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Healthier Children. A Better World.™

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Meet Our Hero: Eugene

What began as a common cold progressed into much more; a trip to the operating room at The Hospital for Sick Children.

Eugene, then six, began having prolonged and persistent coughing spells as well as shortness of breath. His parents brought him to a local medical clinic to diagnose his symptoms. After a chest X-ray, the doctor on duty discovered Eugene’s cough was more sinister than a simple cold. Eugene had a six-centimetre mass in his chest

Eugene

Eugene, Mediastinal Teratoma

Within a week, Eugene and his family met with Dr. Ted Gerstle, paediatric general surgeon at SickKids, to discuss the removal of the mass.

On the day of his surgery, Eugene walked down the corridor to the operating room at SickKids. He chose watermelon-flavoured gas to inhale as he drifted off to sleep. The surgery went well and Eugene woke up a few hours later in the Intensive Care Unit, groggy from the anesthetic. Within four days of surgery, Dr. Gerstle found Eugene well enough to continue his recovery at home.

Thankfully, the mass in Eugene’s chest was benign and took the form of a mediastinal teratoma (grouping of tumour cells). Dr. Gerstle reassured Eugene and his family that no further surgery or treatment was required.

Now 11, Eugene returns to SickKids every six months for annual checkups but is expected to have no further complications. He is bright, energetic and loves to play the violin. With his breathing problems cured, Eugene takes part in many sports including badminton, basketball, soccer, taekwondo and swimming.

The Division of General and Thoracic Surgery takes care of children with a wide variety of congenital anomalies and acquired diseases of the abdomen, chest, head and neck, and endocrine organs, as well as the assessment and management of children with multiple injuries and children requiring liver and small bowel transplants.

 

HOW CAN YOU HELP? Thousands of children like Eugene need your support.