Three Hearts, One Battle

UDPATED April 29, 2011

The piece aired on Thursday, April 28. ABC27 and Anne Imanuel did a great job! Thank you for sharing an inspirational story and raising awareness of congenital heart defects. 

You can find the story here on the ABC27 website.

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Remember last month, we wrote about "Those Massey Boys"? 

That blog post caught the attention of WTXL-TV, ABC 27, Tallahassee, and they decided to do a story about the Masseys! Thank you, Anne Imanuel!

I can't wait to see the whole piece! But in the meantime, here's a sneak preview that ABC 27's Creative Services put together to promote "Three Hearts." (You can also find it on our YouTube channel.)

"Three Hearts, One Battle" 

Thursday, April 28, at 6 p.m. 

WTXL-TV ABC 27

Those Massey Boys

I stepped away from my desk for a few minutes. When I came back to my computer, this picture was up on my screen. I LOVE this photo. I love these boys. Kyle, Kasey and Kevin are the sweetest, craziest, funniest boys. They have big, generous, loving hearts. 

They're known around these parts as "The Massey Boys." Kyle, Kasey and Kevin are almost 17. All three were born with serious, life-threatening congenital heart defects. Their parents, Keith and Elaine, did not know before their triplets were born that they had tetralogy of Fallot, a group of four congenital heart defects -- pulmonary stenosis, overriding aorta, ventricular septal defect and right ventricular hypertrophy.

The Massey Triplets were born in South Georgia and airlifted to Shands Children's Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. Shands/Children's Miracle Network keeps their story, along with an adorable picture of the triplets as toddlers. The doctors at the University of Florida have written about them; I mean, they're identical triplets with nearly identical heart defects. How often does that happen anyway?

Imagine that. Imagine raising identical triplet boys who have nearly identical heart defects. Triple the worries. Triple the anxieties. Triple the surgeries. And? Triple the victories. Triple the accomplishments. Triple the laughter. Triple the joys.

Those Massey Boys fight, they pick on each other, they joke and they play pranks. They laugh and take care of each other. They're talkative and delightfully noisy. Keith and Elaine have raised rambunctious, goofy, thoughtful, loving kids. And they've done it with amazing grace, calm and composure. The boys -- the family -- are involved in their school, their church, their local community, and the congenital heart community. They are proud, confident young men. They're so good to our younger heart heroes.

Every time I see this photo, this is what I think about. Thank you, Kyle, Kevin and Kasey, for being you. Thank you, Keith and Elaine, for sharing them with us.

Our Trip Back to the PICU

By Grace Guadagnoli

A few weeks ago, we took our Anthony back to the pediatric intensive care unit at Shands Children’s Hospital in Gainesville to visit the nurses he had when he had open-heart surgery to repair his congenital heart defect. When we arrived, we saw Beverly and she was very happy to see him. 

As my husband and I walked through the doors and down the halls, I had an overwhelming feeling: I was happy we were able to experience going back to the PICU, not as a patient, but to visit, a happy visit. 

But as I walked down those halls, I could not help but feel happy and sad at the same time, knowing there are precious children and families there who have the fight of their lives. As I walked through the PICU, I said a prayer for each and every family in every room. 

We are so blessed to have had the Shands’ PICU nurses take care of our little Anthony. We will forever be grateful for all they have done for us.

Grace and her family live near Lake City, Florida. Anthony, or "AJ," as he's also known, was born in September 2009 with tetralogy of  Fallot.