Our little guys have surgery

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow..."

We want to thank all of our family and friends for your heartfelt thoughts, prayers and well wishes throughout the last six weeks. At the end of September Matthew had open heart surgery and two weeks later Alex had an outpatient hernia repair.

We want to especially thank our parents, our immediate and extended family members as well as our friends, church family and co-workers for all of your support and help. Mimi came from Missouri to help us at home during Matt's surgery; Uncle Ryan came to help us at home during Alex's surgery; Honey spent the night at the hospital with Mama and Matt; Aunt JuJu, Uncle Rick, Brad and Brian sent Matt a great 'Hospital Fun Kit' with lots of things to do; Kim Mintz sent an adorable "Doctor" Build-A-Bear; Bao Luo for coming to visit and comfort us at the hospital; LaLa, Keith, and Shelby came by with a balloon and then dinner after we got home....THANK YOU ALL...WE LOVE YOU!

Why did Matt and Alex need surgery...????

Matthew was diagnosed with VSD (ventricular septal defect) or a tiny hole in his heart that did not close on its own. This hole needed to be repaired in order for him to be a healthy and happy little boy. When we met with his pediatric cardiologist at UAB, we had hoped to be able to repair his VSD with a fairly common outpatient procedure; however we found out that he would require open heart surgery. Alex was diagnosed with an inguinal hernia in China. We requested that the Chinese government NOT repair his hernia and they granted our request. These procedures were not emergency surgeries, yet they had to take place in order for these little ones to grow and prosper.

Matthew had his surgery at UAB Hospital...a nationally known medical facility. We were overwhelmed with the wonderful care that we received at UAB from Matt's physicians and nurses. We were also amazed at how quickly children recover from such an intrusive surgery. Matthew was out of the bed and walking the halls after 72 hours! He was released two days earlier than expected and has not looked back! The following are some pics of him during his hospital stay and his adorable and very attentive nurses.

Although it looks like a cage, it really is Matthew in the crib!

Our friends LaLa, Keith and Shelby brought him the precious balloon...

Matt 36 hours after surgery...still in some pain
This is our tough little guy the day that he left the hospital...dimples and all
Matt with his favorite nurses...Ashley (L) and Jenny (R)

He had them wrapped around his little finger

and they even rubbed his feet and gave him a stuffed 'Sponge Bob'
Matt was exhausted leaving the hospital...ahhhhhhh...uninterrupted sleep at last!