Elena Olegovna Kvashnina Country of Origin: Petropavlovsk, Kazakstan  DOB: 11/16/78  Aliment: Tetrology of Fallot (TOF)    The third of eleven children, Elena had always been smallest in her family and suffered from chronic episodes of breathlessness and fatigue.  To the amusement of her siblings and the horror of her parents, Eleana would crouch into a ball in such moments, placing her head between her legs.  After several minutes, she would regain her strength, stand, and continue on as if nothing had happened.  It had always been this way for this resilient young girl.  Her mother, Ludmila, was ill during Eleana's pregnancy. At birth,  a heart murmur was quickly detected and Eleana donned a bluish hue that would never leave her skin.  At this time Kazakstan was still part of the former Soviet Union, and Eleana was immediately taken Volgograd, Russia for diagnosis.  An echocardiogram revealed that Elena suffered from Tetrology of Fallot, a complex heart defect that is synonymous with the crouch Eleana would rely upon later in life.  Her heart had a hole in the wall that normally separates the left and right ventricles.  In addition

Dr. Tursinbuy Bimakhanov, a Kazakstani doctor, took up Eleana's care and her health waxed and waned over the next fourteen years.  With the collapse of the Soviet Union, however, things changed quickly for Eleana.  Over the summer of 1994, an American missionary  named Dave Hamilton was traveling in the new Republic of Kazakstan when he meet Eleana's parents.  Upon return to his home in Fouke, Arkansas, he set about finding medical aid for Eleana.  He diligently translated her medical files and passed them on to Dr. Janet Freeman of the University of South Alabama.  By December, Eleana had become a Heart to Heart patient, but because of visa and transportation problems coming to the United States was delayed for eight months.  Finally in August of 1995, Eleana arrived at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center with her mother, her father, Oleg, and Dr. Bimakhanov.

Unfortunately, Eleana's medical condition was more complicated than originally thought.  Her left ventricle, the chamber of the heart that pumps blood to the rest of the body, was very small.  Her infundibulum, the upper portion of the right ventricle, was also very narrow.  Eleana's complex case presented a unique to her pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Ed V. Colvin.  A full correction was not possible, but a surgical procedure did exist that would improve her overall cardiac health.  After three operations performed by Dr. Al Pacifico, the blood flow to Eleana's lungs increased and her health improved greatly.

Eleana returned to Kazakstan with her family and after an initial bout with post-operative infection recovered well. Her energy level increased greatly and she continues to do well.

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