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2 weeks before he was born ~ we did not know of his defect until he was 4 days old
4lbs 1oz ~ born at 32 weeks
"Unifocalization" ~ 9 hours by Dr. Frank Hanley
Chest was open for 4 days ~ hence the gauze on top
Still on a ventilator (remained on vent for another few weeks)
Mask would assist him to breathe in and out
Waiting for the surgery team to take him off
And still he smiles...
Happy day ~ Look no oxygen!
So much to be thankful for!
One boy's long road to recovery. Matthew was born two months premature with a rare fourfold heart defect known as Tetralogy of Fallot with Pulmonary Atresia and MAPCA's, and Ventricular Septal Defect. He's had two open heart surgeries and will need additional heart surgeries in the future. To appreciate the absolute miracle of this "3 plus million dollar boy", you'd need to look into the "Archives" beginning after his first 9 hr open heart surgery at Stanford, August 2005.
First picture
2 weeks before he was born ~ we did not know of his defect until he was 4 days old
Day of birth ~ May 10th, 2005
4lbs 1oz ~ born at 32 weeks
Day of first surgery ~ July "05
"Unifocalization" ~ 9 hours by Dr. Frank Hanley
After first surgery
Chest was open for 4 days ~ hence the gauze on top
Chest was just closed
Still on a ventilator (remained on vent for another few weeks)
BiPap mask
Mask would assist him to breathe in and out
Getting ready for second surgery
Waiting for the surgery team to take him off
After second surgery
And still he smiles...
Leaving Stanford after second surgery
Happy day ~ Look no oxygen!
Happy Days
So much to be thankful for!
To view more pictures of Matthew while at Stanford, you can expand the year of 2005 by first clicking on the arrow, then the month. He was at Stanford from July thru September of 2005. Matthew was transferred back to Sunrise hospital where he stayed until the end of October 2005.
His second open heart surgery at Stanford was March 16th of 2006.
We've been told he'll need a conduit change, on average, every three years. We are hoping technology will be on our side.
He's our amazing little soldier boy. Our miracle.
His second open heart surgery at Stanford was March 16th of 2006.
We've been told he'll need a conduit change, on average, every three years. We are hoping technology will be on our side.
He's our amazing little soldier boy. Our miracle.
6 comments:
Mountain Men!!!! When in Beaver you do Beaverish things like work the backhoe, right? Not only is daddy working; but he's having a great time doing it. Matthew loves getting on the backhoe and helping his dad backfill.
His life in Beaver in like another lifetime. He loves being around Tim, Tanji and the kids. They are so a big part of his family and so instrumental in his maturing. It is so good for him that it is worth being away from him for 3 days a week.
Boy would it be an adventure to ride on something like THAT!
I was watching some of the video on the side of your blog, and though I knew somewhere in my mind hospital bill could wipe out a family I guess it didn't really sink in till now. What could I do as a heart mom to help. Are there petitions out there. Do I need to write my congress man. Let me know what I can do to help. Then I will spread the word.
Politican's don't care...
we spent 18 months writing..calling... testifying...
since none of this impacts them..
they don't care.
They will never have to worry about this kind of thing.
Is there a support group in Nevada for CHD children ? I am really baffled that there is no national organization for us. We have a support group here, but it is not very effective. I am in the process of trying to change this, so that we can have a bigger voice. Maybe, the web would be a good tool out there to get letters out there to all these politician, so that they would have to listen. Maybe if we teamed up with some other organization such as cancer, CF, etc. it be a bigger voice.
I really love the pictures of Michael and Matthew enjoying time together whether it's work or play. Matthew seems to thrive up in that beautiful countryside where he can run and play and climb and just be a happy boy.
The colder the weather becomes, the nicer it will be to have a beautiful home of their own in the mountains.
Love to all. Grandma Sue
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