If this doesn't make you shed a tear...

[Chris James]

then you aren't human. Max deserves a better life, and a long one. My thoughts are with him and his family.

http://today.msnbc.m...day-today_news/

[Guest Dabeagle]

So heartbreaking. One thing, though, is we can be thankful that we have the ability and the parents have the resources/insurance/etc to get proper care. A friend of mine's daughter has gone through heart surgery several times to replace valves. I loved his commercial, and the article paints him as a pretty special little guy.

[Paul_and_Paco]

His family will make all the difference in the world for him. Hospitals can be very, very scary places, even for those of us a bit older... or, a lot older. I really like the idea of Funning up the house... Whisper lane and the explosions in the garage, cool.

[blue]

Hospitals are not great, but some of the doctors, nurses, and techs are really gifted, special people. So are some of the patients and their loved ones.

Every kid deserves a better life. Some kids live with things like that. They are still just kids, like other kids, but things are a little different.

Between myself and friends and family, I've seen a lot of what that's like. It can feel scary at any age. It makes a big difference knowing people care.

Good for his family for answering questions so he'll feel better, and for being there.

I hope he comes through fine and can do what he wants soon.

[DesDownunder]

I can empathise with young Max. I was born with a hole in the heart, and I survived until I was 19, when in 1963, I was one of the first people to have open heart surgery to repair it. Now, nearly 50 years later, I am inclined to think that the surgery was successful.

Max seems to be getting the care that he needs, and I can only hope that he lives at least as long as I have.

(For those who deride socialised medicine, my operation was totally without cost to me, including the 10 years of annual follow up examinations. My surgeon recently died at the age of over 90. He was an atheist and one of the nicest, most humane men I have ever met. I believe he was gay friendly, and respected the dedication of his staff, many of whom were also gay.)

[Gee Whillickers]

I was just fine until I got to this part:

He said, ‘Mom I don’t have a choice. I have to go through it. I don’t like it and it’s still scary — but I have to. So I think I might as well go through it with a good attitude.’

That was all it took. I was blubbering.

As for Des' hole in the head, I couldn't help but think, "Well, we all knew this of course." But, then I re-read it. Woops.

[DesDownunder]

I was just fine until I got to this part:

That was all it took. I was blubbering.

As for Des' hole in the head, I couldn't help but think, "Well, we all knew this of course." But, then I re-read it. Woops.

Believe me Gee, I've heard it all before LOL.

Really though I understand what Max is feeling. The nurses were wheeling me into the operating theatre, and one asked me if I was feeling frightened. I told her I was worrying because I wasn't afraid, to which she wisely replied, "That's okay, it just means you have accepted it."

[Chris James]

Good News:

Hospital released the news this evening: Max had a successful surgery today. After a five day recovery period he will go home. Sigh, what a relief.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/47820502/ns/today-today_news/

[Chris James]

Perhaps it is because he is so young and has his whole life before him, but I am attached to this story about Max. I think it is astonishing that after surgery last week on Thursday that he is going home today. From what I have read about his family that is probably the best place for him to recover. With his medical history I can only say that this child has an amazing will to live, and now he shall.

http://today.msnbc.m...day-today_news/

[colinian]

What we have to remember is that this kind of surgery is highly successful these days. That wasn't true in the not-so-distant past. Max is lucky that he's here now and can have this life-saving surgery. I'm glad it turned out well.

Colin

[DesDownunder]

Actually, when I had my hole in the heart repaired, the operation was usually successful if the patient was old enough. So with new surgical techniques, I think what has improved is the length of hospital stay (mine was 3 weeks), and also that the patient can be younger and the surgery more complex than before. My surgeons told me I had more of a chance to be killed crossing the road than I did because of the surgery.

What you may find really interesting is the movie Partners of the Heart, based on a true story:

In 1944, two men at Johns Hopkins University Hospital pioneered a groundbreaking procedure that would save thousands of so-called blue babies' lives. One of them, Alfred Blalock, was a prominent white surgeon. The other, Vivien Thomas, was an African American with a high school education. Partners of the Heart tells the inspiring, little-known story of their collaboration. Blalock recognized Thomas' talents when the younger man came inquiring after a hospital janitor's job. But though Blalock came to treat Thomas with tremendous respect in the lab, the two men were rarely treated as equals in the outside world. Over time, Thomas would go on to train two generations of the country's premier heart surgeons. In 1976, more than three decades after the first blue baby's life had been saved, Johns Hopkins finally formally recognized Thomas' extraordinary achievements, awarding him an honorary doctorate.

These pioneers made open heart surgery a possibility. The fact that one of the men could only find work as a janitor, because he wasn't a white man, is an extraordinary story in itself. That their pioneering work occurred in the year of my birth (1944) is, for me, somewhat ironic.