In the first hours of 2004, Marta Blanco felt as though she was waking from a nightmare. It was New Year’s Day and Marta’s 4-year-old daughter Sofia had just opened her eyes
for the first time since she was brought to Miami Children’s in critical condition in December of 2003.
“She opened her eyes and I told her she had been a very sick little girl, but that I was with her and lots of people were going to take care of her until she got better,” said Marta.
The life and death drama began weeks earlier, when Marta noted an enlarged lymph node in Sofia’s groin during bath time. The child’s pediatrician indicated that the lump was caused by an infection. But days later, Sofia’s health was rapidly declining as antibiotic treatments failed to curb the apparent infection. Sofia was admitted to an area hospital with a high fever and labored breathing.
While hospitalized, Sofia’s condition worsened dramatically and doctors began to suspect they were battling a very different foe: cancer. But time was needed to obtain a definitive diagnosis and Sofia’s hours were clearly numbered. In late December, the critically ill child was transferred to Miami Children’s Hospital where she could receive Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), a heart and lung bypass therapy that would enable Sofia’s failing heart and lungs to rest and recuperate while a diagnosis was made.
At Miami Children’s, Dr. Enrique Escalon, Director of the hospital’s Cancer Center suspected the culprit was Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a difficult-to-diagnose cancer of the lymph system. Concerned by the aggressive nature of the cancer, Dr. Escalon persuaded Marta and Marta’s father, a New Orleans-based physician, to permit the team to give Sofia chemotherapy while the child was still on ECMO. This treatment seemed the only hope for a little girl in such rapid decline.
“Dr. Escalon asked us to take a leap of faith and we are so glad that we did,” said Marta. Within days of the start of chemotherapy, Sofia was rallying.
Today, Sofia is a happy 5-year-old who loves playing with her younger sister and looks forward to entering the classroom in the fall.
“We have so much to be grateful for,” said Marta. “I am thankful for the doctors who knew when to send us to Miami Children’s and to Dr. Escalon for urging us to forge ahead with the chemotherapy. And we love the doctors and nurses from the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. They were amazing and so supportive of us every step of the way.”
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