A father gets a call that his 12-year-old son is complaining of chest pains and is being rushed to the local hospital. A second call: the son is being transferred to Boston Children’s Hospital. “It was like a scene out of a movie or a medical drama on TV,” describes Chris Corso of the ordeal. Little did he and his wife know that series of calls would begin the surreal experience that changed his family’s life.
It started as just a normal day at school for his son, Matt Corso. He was in Phys Ed class when he started to feel a little off. After a couple glasses of water were of no aid, Corso was escorted to the nurse’s office as his condition rapidly deteriorated.
Corso was rendered nearly incapacitated by severe chest pains and distress by the time he reached the nurse’s office, and asked to be taken to a hospital. To add to the frenzy, neither of his parents could be reached, as they were both at work. Fortunately, his school was able to get in touch with Corso’s emergency contact, his neighbor Marie.
The local hospital took one look at Corso’s EKG and knew something very sinister was occurring andquickly determined the need to escalate this to Boston Children’s Hospital.
The ER at BCH did another EKG, a chest x-ray, an Echocardiogram, and administered pain medication.
The ER team inferred it was most likely Myocarditis, a disease that causes inflammation in the heart that can result in damage to the heart muscle. Myocarditis is uncommon and is generally triggered by viral infections or some autoimmune diseases. As if this disease is not terrifying enough, Myocarditis typically affects otherwise healthy individuals. This sniper of a disease is believed to be responsible for up to 20% of all sudden deaths in young adults. (Myocarditis Foundation, 2018)
The head of the Cardiac unit explained the gravity of the situation to Corso’s parents stating he must be admitted to the ICU and will require surgery to insert an Internal Jugular Central Line. The extent of Corso’s condition revealed itself further during the procedure. The surgeons discovered that Corso’s coronary artery was blocked and the surgical team began the process of clearing it and administering blood thinners.
The Corso family wasn’t out of the woods yet, 3 days later Max Corso began suffering chest pains all over again and the catheterization lab at BCH confirmed his coronary artery was now 80% blocked. Corso went into surgery to insert a stent into his coronary artery.
Unfortunately, the Corso family may never be out of the woods completely. Myocarditis is a life-long disease that they continue to battle. Since the initial event, Corso has received an Implantable Cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) to monitor his heartbeats. An ICD is a battery-powered device that is implanted in people at high risk for cardiac arrest. If the ICD detects an abnormally rapid or arrhythmic heartbeat, the device will deliver a small electric shock to restore the natural rhythm. This has been shown to be lifesaving. (www.heart.org, 2018)
This cause is close to FBinsure’s heart. Both Chris and Roy Corso, Max’s grandfather, have been FBinsure employees and Chris is a dear friend of our current employee Mary Jackson. This month, for FBCares’ Jeans Day, we are raising money for The Myocarditis Foundation in honor of Max Corso. The Myocarditis Foundation “is dedicated to providing accurate and up-to-date information to medical professionals, patients and their families, and to the scientific advancement of both the diagnosis and treatment of the disease with the goal of saving more lives.” (Myocarditis Foundation, 2018) Keep an eye out on September 28th for our MCStrong employees wearing jeans and wearing red for heart disease awareness.
