March 2016 - Danbury Titans Hockey Partner Up with MHOH for Pillow Project & Hockey Game

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View this email in your browser Danbury Titans Hockey Partner Up with MHOH for Pillow Project & Hockey Game On Tuesday, February 23 rd The Sherman School participated in Matthew’s Hearts of Hope Fifth Annual “Hug a Heart “pillow project. The children stuffed a total of 353 heart pillows, all going to children who have to undergo open heart surgery at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York, where one of their colleagues in First Grade, Matthew Hatcher has had four open heart surgeries. Sherman Selectman Clay Cope was in attendance on Tuesday morning at the start of their busy day of filling the pillows!  Also in attendance were four Quinnipiac University students including Sherman School Graduate Andrew Sauer who is directing a documentary on the life of Matthew Hatcher and other CHD Warriors called “The Art of the Heart” as his senior project, being released in May. We were also fortunate to have a visit from two Danbury Titan Players Matt Caranci and Kory Helowka. All in all it was a special day that will ultimately bring comfort to sick children. A thank you goes out to Fairfield Processing of Danbury who donate all the Polyfill, Clothing Labels4u, a Florida company who donated 2000 tags at a discount and also JoAnn Fabric who sells us the fabric at 50% off and lastly One Stop Cleaners in New Fairfield who donate the bags that the Hug a Heart Pillows are delivered in. Thank you to all who participated, it is a special project close to my heart and Matthew’s half a heart! It is a labor of love for sure! You are all making a difference in the lives of  children who can use these heart pillows to hug, that have been stuffed full with polyfill, love and a few ounces of hope!!   Join Us For Some Hockey on Sunday, March 13th! CLICK HERE to Purchase Tickets Online Now! Or, go to our website at www.matthewsheartsofhope.org and look under the "EVENTS" tab. CLICK HERE to Make a Donation. Did you know that currently 3-D hearts are not funded by insurance? They are changing the way CHD is being treated, giving hope of longer and healthier lives for our CHD warriors. www.matthewsheartsofhope.org Copyright © 2014 , All rights reserved. Our mailing address is:mhatcher@matthewsheartsofhope.org unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

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February 2016 - Medical Luncheon Update, Catching Up with MHOH

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View this email in your browser Catching Up with MHOH   As CHD Awareness month starts I reflect on where we were this time last year. 2015 was a tough year for Matthew and us as a family with an additional diagnosis of Plastic Bronchitis. I have watched Matthew struggle to breathe, a very helpless feeling. But thanks to our doctors at CHONY and a second opinion from CHOP, Matthew is doing well at the moment on twice a day twenty minute treatments with his vest and Levalbuterol nebuliser(cardiac version of Albuterol) with Q-Var inhaler. On our visits to the hospital last year we met some great CHD Warriors, sisters Ava and Bella, Morgan, their parents and siblings and they will all be part of the upcoming documentary called “The Art of The Heart”, the story of Matthew Hatcher. We spent Christmas and New Years with friends and family and enjoyed quality time with them. Unfortunately a good friend lost her husband suddenly on December 22nd, he leaves behind three children, one in Matthew’s class.  Please keep The Steiger Family in your prayers as they adjust to life without Ron.  In the New Year, another family close to MHOH lost their son.  The Schutz family lost their son Joel on February 3rd and we know that Joel is up in heaven playing football, smiling from ear to ear.  Our love goes out to both families. Despite the personal challenges of 2015, we as a foundation made HUGE Strides! In the coming weeks we will be dispersing close to $70,000 to 13 promising CHD Research Projects as well as a 3-D Heart Project at Boston Children’s Hospital to which we have committed $10,000 in 2016 as well 2017. Below is the list of grant recipients and their hospitals for this year’s grant cycle, congratulations to all of you. Boston Children’s Hospital: Dr. Laith Alshawabkeh Dr. Sarah Goldberg Dr. David Hoganson Dr. Anthony Merlocco Dr. Michelle Sykes University of Rochester Medical Center: Dr. Ryan Alanzalon Children’s Hospital of Phildelphia: Dr. Arene Butto Dr. Monique Gardner Dr. Michael Liu Children’s Hospital of New York: Dr. Nithya Swaminathan Dr. Ranjini Srinivasan Dr. Jonathan Flyer Mount Sinai Hospital: Dr. Ruchika Karnik On January 21st we had a very special visit to Boston Children’s Hospital. We met Dr. Emani, Melissa Burke and Noah, the engineer who works on the 3-D Hearts. We delivered 100 “Hug a Heart” pillows in memory of Matthew’s friend Faith. We were joined by 5 members of the Boston Chapter of The Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society including the Chair of the Children’s Medical Luncheon,Frances Levas. They saw firsthand the difference that their donation will make in the lives of children suffering from CHD through the 3-D Heart Project. It was all captured on camera by Drew Sauer and his crew from Quinnipiac University for the upcoming documentary “The Art with the Heart”. Stay tuned for more details on that! Lastly we are gearing up for multiple “Hug a Heart” Pillow Projects in the month of February. We would love some help pre sewing the pillows to ensure that we have enough for the children to stuff, please contact mhatcher@matthewsheartsofhope.org  if you can help, many hands make light work! With Sincerest Thanks For Your Support Marie, Mike, Michael, Ryan and especially Matthew     Matthew's Hearts of Hope continues to make an impact in the lives of CHD children and their families.  Click HERE to read an article released by Boston Children's Hospital that sums up just how your support of MHOH changes lives!!!! Pictured here are Jason Ayres with son Patrick, Dr. Emani, and Patrick’s 3-D printed heart. Happy New Year to all!!! Currently, 3-D hearts are not funded by insurance. Please make a donation today to help defray the costs of producing these hearts that are changing the way CHD is being treated and the lives of our CHD warriors and their families!!! CLICK HERE TO DONATE! www.matthewsheartsofhope.org Copyright © 2014 , All rights reserved. Our mailing address is:mhatcher@matthewsheartsofhope.org unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

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November 2015 - Giving Thanks

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View this email in your browser Giving Thanks   Every year we spend Thanksgiving with Mike’s sister Marianne and my brother- in-law Patrick and their family, and before dinner we have a tradition whereby everyone around the table one by one says what they are thankful for. It’s a really nice tradition and in the days prior I enjoy listening to all three of my boys figure out what they are thankful for. I think about all the people that are not home for this important holiday, and I’m grateful for everyone in our military that fight every day for our freedoms and to try to make our world better, and to their families! This past year has not been an easy one for Matthew or us as a family. I am grateful for the many friends and family that prayed, made a meal, stopped by to offer support. I am also grateful for the people we met this past year, Morgan, Ava and Bella their parents, we are all in this Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) fight together! I am grateful to the many sponsors, supporters, donors who made our year our most successful yet, we raised close to $60,000 at our Gala in October. We also received a $25,000 grant from The National Philoptochos Medical Fund, I am grateful to all the amazing ladies involved with that organization. We are funding two more 3 D Heart Projects at Boston Children’s Hospital and Montefiore Hospital as well as multiple other CHD Research Projects. We are making a difference in the CHD World because of all of you! Happy Thanksgiving to you all, Marie, Mike, Michael, Ryan and especially Matthew     Currently, 3-D hearts are not funded by insurance. Please make a donation today to help defray the costs of producing these hearts that are changing the way CHD is being treated and the lives of our CHD warriors and their families!!! CLICK HERE TO DONATE! www.matthewsheartsofhope.org Copyright © 2014 , All rights reserved. Our mailing address is:mhatcher@matthewsheartsofhope.org unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

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MATTHEW MADE A NEW FRIEND AT COLUMBIA

Matthew has a new heart warrior friend named Morgan.  She just found out today (Monday) that she needs another open heart surgery Tuesday or Wednesday (we are still waiting to hear).
Please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers in the coming days and weeks.  We know this road so well and it was so great that Matthew had a chance to meet her.  I think it was helpful for both of them.
And for all of you local Sherman folks, she attends the Gunnery in Washington so you read the shirt correctly!!!! 

BABY S TURNED ONE YESTERDAY!!

In the midst of our crazy week a very special little boy, Baby S turned one, he is doing great, so blessed to be s part of his life!! Here is a note from his Mom!!!

Hi Marie,
It's been a while since we spoke.... But we always talk about your amazing deeds! We are forever grateful to you and your family. We just celebrated out Chaim D's b-day-can't believe it's already a year.

I grabbed this pic this morning and I felt I had to share with you!
You deserve it!!

GOOD TO BE HOME
As always, God is good to us and we arrived home yesterday (Monday, 7/20) and Matthew and I are settling in to our new normal with a few more medications than when we left.  Just need to stay on top of them and try to take it easy.
We are sending our records down the CHOP in Philadelphia so they can review everything and hopefully come up with a plan to treat the plastic bronchitis.  Not sure where it will take us but it is our next step.  Keep your fingers crossed that we find some answers that will make Matthew's life a bit easier for now.
Otherwise, we are just thankful for all of the support, calls, texts, emails, thoughts and prayers that come our way when these situations arise.  Thank you again.
And, coming home to these guys is the best gift we could ask for!!!

MATTHEW OUT OF ICU -  UPDATE FROM 7/17/15
First and foremost, thank you to everyone for all the texts, emails, messages and phone calls and most importantly the prayers, my apologies for not responding to them all. Matthew is on the floor since yesterday. He continues to cough up casts but they are fewer and fewer and his oxygen is being weaned slowly. He is between 1 and 2 liters via nasal cannula and he is sating between 86% and 94%. We actually took a short walk outside this evening in the garden downstairs, it was so good to breath fresh air!
After some discussion with Matthew's doctors, we decided to send his medical records to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for review. They have a program there that is specifically focused on Matthew's issue, Plastic Bronchitis and he may be a candidate for a procedure that they do, that can help alleviate these acute episodes of respiratory distress. We will likely be heading there in the coming weeks. We have added many more medications and treatments to his current regimen, 16 doses of medicine daily with 4 x 20 minute chest pt treatments with his vest. Matthew continues to smile through it all and laughed loudly tonight while face timing with his brothers and Nana and PopPop! Michael and Ryan are coming to visit tomorrow and we can't wait. We are hoping to be discharged home on Monday.
Thanks to Barbara Richardson for bringing dinner over tonight, I'm only sorry I wasn't home to taste it! Keep the prayers coming,  we still have a long road ahead of us!
Thanks,
Marie, Mike and especially Matthew. 

MATTHEW DOING WELL UPDATE FROM 7/14/15

Update from Marie from last night 11:00 pm

After a long day in the ER, Matthew got admitted to Cardiac ICU where he is surrounded by lots of people who know him and love him! He went to the OR tonight for a bronchoscopy, right before he went in he coughed up a large cast from his plastic bronchitis. He only spent one hour in there and they were able to remove the few remaining casts. In true Matthew fashion he had done most of the work beforehand!

He is back in ICU now resting comfortably on 4 liters of nasal cannula oxygen and is sating at 90%, as I always say God is good!

Thank you for all the texts, messages and emails and most of all the prayers, we are so blessed to be surrounded by such an amazing group of family and friends!
Good Night from New York,

Marie, Mike and especially Matthew