David Franco

David Franco is 49 years old and was born with a ventricular septal defect (or VSD), pulmonary stenosis and congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries.  At the age of 5, David was sent to the University of Alabama, Birmingham, to have his VSD closed by Dr. John Kirklin. He also received an implanted pacemaker.

David had a second open-heart surgery at 27 to replace his pulmonary valve and add a pulmonary conduit allowing for more oxygenated blood going through his body. The surgery was successful but David suffered a stroke during this procedure. He also received an implanted cardioverter defibrillator (or ICD).

Since 2006, David has undergone three separate major surgeries that were not cardiac in nature. In all 3 surgeries he had to get cardiac clearance from two separate cardiologists, his pediatric cardiologist and his electrophysiologist (due to his ICD).  Two of the three surgeries required general anesthesia so a pediatric anesthesiologist was also consulted.