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On November 4th, about 130 people gathered at Anthony’s Lake Club in Danbury for our 7th Annual “Giving from The Heart” Gala. It was another successful night for our worthy cause thanks to our wonderful emcee Mr. James Clerkin who looked very handsome in his tuxedo and the talented Gala Committee, led by Susan Seeger and including Donna Arlands, Amy Bocompani, Cathy Davidson, Julie Head, Robin and Ali Moravsky, Amy Smith, Bernadette Schopfer. Thank you one and all for your hard work behind the scenes, we raised over $55,000 for CHD Research.
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Unfortunately November and December were not great months for Matthew, with multiple trips to the emergency room and one admission to MSCHONY. He also had issues with tachycardia (fast heart rate at rest). He was placed on a Zio patch monitor for a week and the results confirmed what we knew about his tachycardia. His ECHO was normal for him and his blood work all looked good.
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His heart’s conducting system was fine also.We resigned it all to the fact that he grew an inch and a half in 2 months and his heart had episodes of beating quickly simply to keep up with the demands of a growing boy!
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In November, right around Thanksgiving my brother in law Tommy called me to see if I could help a previous co-worker of his in the NY assembly who had a cousin in Jamaica with a baby with a CHD. Her name was Akera Campbell, her Mom’s name Shanieek McCrae. I reached out to all involved and got a lot of information including Cardiac Notes from her Cardiologist Dr. Foster. This 10 month old baby was in the hospital with episodes of cyanosis (oxygen levels dropping) with four defects to her heart, Tetralogy of Fallot and no hope without corrective surgery.
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We reached out to our contacts at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York and after many emails and phone calls, Matthew’s surgeon Dr. Bacha, Dr. LaPar and the team at Weill Cornell agreed to do the surgery pro bono. Someone came forward and paid for their flights anonymously and Baby Akera and Mom arrived in New York on Friday January 5th, Baby Akera was a very sick baby and was taken by ambulance to Weill Cornell at 2 am on Saturday. On Tuesday, January 9th Baby Akera had her open heart surgery to correct the four defects in her heart. Her recovery went well and she was discharged on Thursday, January 18th. and is currently staying in New York with family. She turned one on Sunday, February 11th and we are blessed and honored to have played a big role in saving this baby’s life! She will be returning home to Jamaica to her two older siblings, her Dad and her grandma in March.
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I have been in contact with Dr. Mark Rodefeld recently and they are very close to a Fontan Blood Pump Prototype. This is very exciting news after fifteen years!
We have three large “Hug a Heart” Pillow Projects in the coming weeks:
- Monday, February 26th, Sherman School
- Monday, March 26th, Meeting Hill House School, New Fairfield
- Thursday, March 29th, Washington Elementary School, Washington Depot.
Any and all help is greatly appreciated!
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Sweet Tweet!!
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All 50 United States....boom!
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We would like to ask you all to keep Brian Kozo in your thoughts and prayers, he received a new heart on February 1st.
We had a conference call last Thursday with our Board of Directors and we are dispersing close to $30,000 to some very exciting CHD Research Projects, not including Dr. Rodefeld’s project. Once all the recipients receive their IRB Approvals from their hospital, we will share their names!
Thank you to Bright Beginnings in New Fairfield for hosting a Bake Sale on Tuesday, February 13th .
Thank you also to Patterson Rotary Club who chose Matthew’s Hearts of Hope as one on their charities again this year, we are so appreciative of your continued support.
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Thank you also to Pack 84 and Troop 48 of Sherman for lysoling and bagging over 350 heart pillows to prepare them for delivery to patients who like Matthew will undergo open heart surgery in the coming months at hospitals in New York, Boston and Westchester.
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Lastly we are partnering with Stew Leonards for a Wine Tasting Event in April, please be on the look out for further details.
My apologies for our lack of contact in the last few months but as you can see we have been staying busy.
Thank you as always for all your support, prayers and love, we feel it more than you could ever know.
I hope this Valentine’s Day you feel as much love as we do, it is a gift and we treasure it!
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