“When I was pregnant with him I craved a large strawberry casserole from the supermarket. My husband joked: Oh Robica, do you want a strawberry? And so the name stuck.”
I can see him on the laptop screen, tightly gripping a broom much bigger than him. A little man with cheerful black eyes, he seems very sure of what he’s doing: he thoroughly cleans the kitchen, which is sparkling anyway. He’s a year and a half old, and in his wake, an ordeal most adults can’t imagine: open heart surgery. He is Robin-Strawberry, the twice-born.
Also read: Eric’s story: the little boy who had heart surgery at six months turns five. Parents: “There are no words when someone saves your child’s life”
A mother’s pain and despair fit into one sentence: he would die in three weeks if they didn’t operate on him, the doctors told us
Robert was a wanted child, who waited 13 years. The pregnancy went normally, as did the birth, in Focșani, on December 7, 2022. Violeta arrived home happy, with Robert in her arms.
Robert’s father was the first to see that something was wrong. The baby was breathing hard, jerky, as if suffocating. The next day they took him to the emergency room, where they were told he was fine. On Christmas day he got sick, they went to the emergency room in Focșani again – he only has a little cold, they were quiet.
Could it be a systolic murmur, the parents asked? Confirmation came the next day. They were hospitalized for 11 days, then they were sent to Iasi, where they received the diagnosis of VSD – ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect, aortic insufficiency, mitral insufficiency, pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Very simplified: the heart is like a pump that takes the oxygenated blood to all the organs, through the aorta artery, then takes the deoxygenated blood through the pulmonary artery. This transports it to the lungs where it is reoxygenated. This pump had defects: the partitions between the chambers of the heart were not compact, they had holes. That is why the oxygenated blood mixed with the non-oxygenated and the organs no longer received enough oxygen. Secondary to this fact, the arteries of the heart suffered.
Then the ordeal began
Robert did not eat, did not gain weight, could not sleep, breathed hard, and in these conditions, the treatment did not give results. Violeta’s voice breaks from a suppressed sob.
“I was just holding him all night. I was trying to give him a spoonful of milk. It was the hardest time of our lives. We didn’t eat anymore, we didn’t sleep anymore, we didn’t have a family life anymore, seeing him struggling, we struggled too. His heart was failing, his lungs were filling with blood, he was slowly dying before our eyes.”
At the three-month check-up, they found out that Robert needed surgery. Quick. Very fast. Being complicated and with high risks, the intervention could not be done either in Iași or in Târgu Mureș. Robert’s parents were referred by doctors to the Polisano Foundation as the only hope in the country for emergency surgery. Robert is an incredibly lucky little boy. The Polisano Foundation was preparing a humanitarian operation mission at that time and they were able to include him on the list of children to be operated on.
May 9, 2023 – the day Robert was born a second time
A human hand, barely breathing. No matter how hard the parents tried, the little boy did not manage to gain weight, so the medical team from Germany decided, after an evaluation, to undertake open heart surgery, together with specialists from Bucharest. Robica was 5 months old and 3 kilograms, plus 2 pounds of fluid retained in the tissues.
You know that moment when they take your child from your arms, to take them to the operating room? Not? Very good! Violeta, like any parent who has been through this, can tell what it’s like: like someone is ripping your skin off you. In those moments you would sell your soul, just so your child wouldn’t have to go through the ordeal of anesthesia, surgery, convalescence.
Read also: Ema the one with wine-ncoa’. Operated at 11 months with the help of basketball player Chris Cooper
Violeta relives those moments with pain. “You know he’s leaving and you’re not sure he’s coming back okay. You don’t know if you’ll see him alive. I walked down the hall and stood by the door where I knew he was going to come out of surgery, I got on my butt on the floor, and I stood there until he came out. Hard, very hard. Mrs. Cătălina came to talk to me. I could not speak because of the emotions. He is a very good man, very warm, he tried to reassure me.”
The bullet missed his head, doctors said
The doctors told Violeta that Robert was a fighter. A few hours after the operation, he showed signs of being hungry. The intensive care staff, part of the humanitarian mission, gave him food. “He ate 120 ml of milk with the nurses in Germany. I crossed myself. He had never eaten more than 20ml, and even then I would call my husband at work to tell him how much the baby had eaten. Through tears, Robică’s father said: know that the boy is saved.
Robert with his family (his parents and sister)
When my husband was allowed to see Robert, after the operation, Mrs. Cătălina told us: talk to him, he can hear you, and my husband caressed him: Robică Căpșunica, dad’s boy. He was moaning and when he heard her voice he started cooing louder and louder. That’s how he got his name in intensive care. And now we cry at home, when we remember those moments. But, seeing Robică blossom before our eyes, our hearts grow.”
After the operation, they remained hospitalized for 13 days, Robert was the last child who could go home from the hospital. Violeta remembers with emotion how well Robert was cared for post-operatively as well. “There were wonderful people on the ward, it’s hard to describe how much love they took care of the children. They looked after all the children the same as their own. At first we were afraid to bathe him, with that big cut, they always helped us.”
Today, Robică is a big fan of the house and turns the house upside down. What more could a mother want?
After the hardships they went through, for Robert’s parents, recovery seemed easy: the baby was eating and gaining weight, godsend. Don’t challenge a mother to recount her child’s purchases, because you will regret it. Violet is no exception. He could light up a room in total darkness, he so shines when he tells a story. It’s just that her happiness is combined with deep gratitude, for the fact that the Polisano Foundation gave her baby a chance at life.
“At 8 months he got up next to the bed, at 10 months he walked alone. The bed is against the wall, he climbs on the window. He has so much energy and power! He looks at the neighbor and calls him: Gigi. He started talking: mom, dad, dad. He is a fighter, he fights with life. He plays all the time, he is very curious. He eats well, likes soups and stews. I’m calling him: come Robica, eat some copanel. Mmmmm, he does.”
While Violeta tears up happily, Robica impassively sweeps behind her and pushes her aside when there is no room for her. Her happiness goes beyond motherly pride, it is linked to certainty: my child is alive, he is healthy, all his progress speaks for itself.
The doctors recommended Violeta to treat Robert as a healthy child. He is allowed to exercise, he will be able to practice sports. The operation was done with such care and skill that it is almost invisible. Robert weighs 12 kilos at no more than a year and a half, eats, grows, plays.
Lady, where do you get so much strength? That is what I would like to ask Mrs. Cătălina
“Robica was born on May 9 for the second time. Then he received a new, healthy heart. We will celebrate May 9 every year, it remains a special date in our family. We are a decent family, of modest people, we are not rich, but we would like to welcome Mrs. Cătălina to us, in Vrancea. We pray for her. If it wasn’t for her, I couldn’t do it. As long as I live, I will always send Mrs. Cătălina news about Robică.
Robert with his godparents
He is a good-hearted man and I saw how much he fought now for that little girl, Karina. Many told him to drop that case. But she fought and Karina lives.”
Article written by Anca Popa for the Polisano Foundation.
Robert with his sister
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