There have been 10 reviews on Matty's Heart if you have read this book and would like to send in your thoughts on the books, please e-mail Michelle with the subject line "Matty's Heart."
1. Patrick received Matty's Heart very well. He was 2 months shy of his 3rd
birthday. I skipped over the parts that weren't relative to him and he was
more interested in Pump, the little heart character, than anything else
anyway(even though he still got the idea of all of the medical stuff that would go on around him). For us, it really helped.
Maureen, mom to Allison and Patrick, 3, ASD repaired
2. Matty's Heartgreat book about a boy (Matty) that has open heart
surgery, what he looks like with the tubes (drawing, not a photo), preop tests, etc.
It was written by Matty's grandmother, I think, who was a nurse. We'd read
that book every day, several times, to my daughter and son. It is a MUST
HAVE.
3. I wanted to say the Children's Heart Society ordered three of the books a
couple of years ago. 2 for our parent resource library and 1 is kept in the
child life therapists teaching bag. At our recent conference she did a
concurrent session on helping your child through medical procedures and she
showed the book and said,"that it is her absolute favorite and she uses it
on children of all ages."
I do not feel that the book is too graphic but truthful and I am a firm
believer that our children need to know the absolute truth about anything
that is going to happen to their bodies. I have always done this with Paul
and I believe he is absolutely thankful that I have.
Deb C
4. Regarding Matty's Heart. We thought this book was wonderful for our young
daughter. But she had also spent more time in the hospital then at home
when we got it for her. She found it very interesting and looking at the
pictures really helped her. But then again she likes to watch shows like ER so she can see echo machines and stethoscopes. Sometimes I think it depends on the
children and how comfortable they are with all this doctor and hospital
stuff.
My daughter likes to see and talk about this stuff because it is what she
knows and what she is used to.
Mary
5. We also used Matty's Heart for Marcus surgery. Justine was having a
hard time and was very emotional. She probably asked us about 4 times
if Marcus was going to die. This book helped us to explain the heart
and why Marcus has to have surgery again. It also helped us to explain
that there are risks when Marcus is in the hospital, but that we pray
for Marcus and try to be as positive as possible. She loved having us
read it to her and I think it has really helped her. I didn't feel it
was too graphic because she has seen Marcus while on the ventilator
(accidently saw him) and she's seen his scar while very fresh and chest
tubes. I'm thankful there was something out there to help prepare a
sibling. Also Anna Jaworski is putting a sibling book out and it is
GREAT!
Melinda
6. I've looked at and discussed Matty's Heart with some other parents. I
may be in the minority here, but for young children I think many of the
pictures are too graphic and frightening-- I could see using this book
with a child over 5, but not one much younger than that.
For our family we found the book to be very helpful in preparing our
children for what Jessica would look like in the hospital. Our youngest at
the time was barely 4. It was not as much a shock to them. They look at
it often now and will ask me "Did Jessica do that?". For us it has been a
very helpful tool and will use it with Jessica when she has another surgery.
Loni
7. I wanted to thank you for recommending Matty's Heart to help prepare Zoe for
her surgery that is the end of this month.
I received it last week and since then she has asked me to read it to her a
million times. It has been a TREMENDOUS help in preparing her for this. She
now goes around pretending to have a vent tube in her mouth and has been acting
out the book with her doctors set.
Again - I really appreciate the recommendation. The worst part for me with
this upcoming surgery is my fear of how scared she will be, and I know that
reading the book has to help her a lot.
Tammy
8. I love this book-I do not think it is really helping Emma right now
but it has been awesome with my older kids-we read it at least 3 times a
week-my five year old has been really interestted in it and my teens think it is a "cool book"!!
Dianna, mom to Emma 2.5 years old
9. .I bought the book Matty's heart before Elizabeth's surgery and it's
wonderful! Elizabeth is 4 yrs old and it really helped. She knew what was going to
happen for both the heart cath and the surgery.
Elizabeth definitely did so much better because she knew what to
expect. I thought she was going to be so scared with all the machines and
monitors but she wasn't at all and it's definitely because of the book. She
carried that book in with her the morning of surgery and she had us read it to her
while the nurses were getting ready to prep her. And it really still is her
favorite book.
10. I have the book and it is GREAT and I think good for all ages. We let
Xander's grandparents read it last year when he had his cath and fontan. It
really did help them get a little better understanding. My SIL also used it as a source when she was talking about CHD day to my nephews pre-k class. It is designed to be used from
toddler to adult.
-Kim
11. My daughter has truncus and is 2. Her name is Aoife (pronounced EEE-fa) and she is doing well, although she is outgrowing her conduit. She had her initial repair at 15 days old, and will be going in for a cath this spring.
As far as books go, I would recommend "It's My Heart" and also "Mattie's Heart".
-Heidi
12. Also there are some great books that we got through Kids with Heart Book store http://zbchde.homestead.com/store.html.(thanks Michelle!!!) which you might like to read to him ... and other children (if you have them) .. and family ..and of course yourself ... that are in nice easy
language ... with pictures that aren't graphic ... esp Matty's Heart ..and the colouring book.
-Cheryl
