Open Heart Surgery

Simi was born with a heart defect; an Atrial Septal Defect. That means that there is a hole between the two Atrial Chambers of his heart where there should be a wall. As heart defects go, this one is the easiest one to fix. But it does mean open heart surgery. This is where they crack open his chest, stop his heart, sew a patch in the hole, restart his heart and close him up.

We hoped to be able to avoid open heart surgery and close the hole via catheterization instead. Unfortunately, the hole is too large to be closed via catheter/amplatzer device.

Simi is nearly 4 years old. We've known about this defect since he was two months old. And we've known that the day to close the hole was coming. Now, it's nearly upon us. On October 6th, Simi will have open heart surgery to close the hole.

After a lot of thought and investigation, we've chosen to go to the Children's Hospital of Boston for the repair. They're leaders in pediatric cardiology and he's in good hands there.

Now let's hope that time fast-forwards quickly to November/December so that we can have this thing behind us.

A Baby Sister

And now for more news: Simi and Asher are going to get a baby sister. A baby sister! Asher is oblivious to this news; Simi is really excited about it. Us two adults are still getting used to the idea of having three, no wait THREE children.

The big event is expected in mid-January.

August Update

We haven't written in awhile. In a way, there was a reason for it. Well, perhaps there are many reasons for it. The main reason is the overwhelming task of preparing for the repair of Simi's heart defect. But more on that later.

Our summer has been wonderful. It's been filled with t-ball and soccer and splashing in the swimming pool and sliding down the incredibly fun water slide. It's been filled with playing on the new backyard play set and our way-too-infrequent get-togethers with our friends.

Asher is talking up a storm now. His favorite phrase is: what's its name? He remembers all these new vocabulary words and uses them properly in sentences - with no help at all. He's a special kid. He's an incredibly happy kid; so full of life.

Simi, too, is growing by leaps and bounds. He's getting more "boy-like" and less "toddler-like" every day. He talks up a storm and it's fun to listen to his imagination blooming while he spits out a stream of consciousness.

We're incredibly lucky to have such wonderful kids. These kids are just amazing.

It's a good time to end this post - on such a note. We'll write about the upcoming open heart surgery in a different post.