Vascular Anomalies Center

The Vascular Anomalies Center at Children's is the best place in the world for your child if he or she has vascular anomalies. I think explaining how I got to Children's will help you understand why.

Angela (middle) and friends at the beach. Photo by Nicholas Marchese.

My condition consists of internal venous malformations. Rarely do they show on the skin. This might be different than other cases of Blue Rubber Bleb Nevus Syndrome or other vascular anomalies conditions, where vascular malformations are more easily detected on the surface. Dr. Steven Fishman, co-director of the VAC at Children's, once told me that I have "Angela's Syndrome." That shows the level of experience of the VAC at Children's; they understand all different vascular anomalies conditions and that each patient may have a unique type requiring unique treatment and care.

Only by a miracle from God and the generosity of a friend and doctor at Children's were we able to afford to make the trip.

When we got to Children's, the doctors showed us the same MRI that doctors in San Francisco had reviewed. Dr. Fishman pointed to a grey blob on the picture that took up about half of my insides. He told us it was a venous malformation, and that the Vascular Anomalies Center could help me and that he could remove the mass.

The way my condition works is that the blood vessels genetically reproduce, which is a scary thought. How much bigger would that mass have gotten? The risk of internal bleeding was so great and so many things could have gone wrong if I hadn't had it removed -- if I hadn't come to Children's.

The knowledge and dedication at the VAC is incredible. They understand things that most doctors can't even begin to grasp. The staff at the hospital is incredible, too; the patient care is the best in the world.

I am now also an employee at Children's. After graduating from high school, I came to Boston from California to attend to college. And now, after graduating from college, I am working at Children's. In some way it's my way of saying thank you and it shows just how much I believe in the hospital.

I'm not going to lie and say my life is perfect and I'm out running the Boston marathon. But thanks to the doctors and the Vascular Anomalies Center at Children's, I am a normal young adult -- working, going out with friends, very involved with my church, and enjoying the life God gave me. I am so thankful!