Monday, November 28, 2011

Update on Matthew

Matthew came home on September 6th, the last day I updated the blog! He was on high doses of diuretics to help with the Pleural Effusions, fluid in his lungs. He is now weaned down to just twice a day Lasix and once a day Aldactone and is doing great! He has started Preschool and loves it. His speech has improved a lot. Dr. Snyder is very happy with his progress as are we!

“Hearts of Hope” was postponed to November 12th due to the snowstorm. It was a huge success! Thank you to all who attended and to all our generous donors for the raffle and silent auction items. Thank you also to all the volunteers from Immaculate High School and their parents and to Linda Hatcher, Lisa O’Neill, Marianne Fahey, Mary Ellen Midgley, Olwen Gurry, Pat Keenaghan and Virginia Clerkin for being the A-Team behind the scenes.  I could not have done it without your help. Thank you also to Dr. Michael Snyder and Dr. Kevin Ferguson for being guest speakers and also to Celtic Cross Pipes and Drums for their beautiful bagpipe music, “Amazing Grace” brought us all to tears. We raised a lot of awareness and money, $7500 for our great cause. Senator Michael McLachlan, Representatives Jan Gieglar and Dan Carter attended the event and promised to help pass legislation in Connecticut that would mandate Pulse Oximetry testing on every newborn. Elizabeth Bradshaw from Children’s National in Maryland will be doing a presentation on Pulse Oximetry Screening and implementation process at Danbury Hospital on December 9th. 

As we approach Thanksgiving this week, I am most thankful for how far we have come with precious Matthew in the last year. I am feeling very blessed indeed. Thank you as always for all your prayers and support! Coming soon “ Hearts Pillows” for all the babies and toddlers in the Cardiac ICU at Columbia Presbyterian to use post open heart surgery to help ease the discomfort when coughing!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! God Bless you all.