Happy Thanksgiving to all.


We just wanted to drop in a quick post letting you know that everything is great in the Smith house and that we have so very much to be thankful for. I won’t go on and on about what we are thankful for however if you want to know you can read my thanksgiving post from 2009. Everything I had written then still holds true today. My family, my wife, my friends, Dr Tweddell, Dr Nancy, Nurse Susie, and our Faith in God. We continue to be thankful daily for all of these.

One thing I wanted to call out this year is how thankful we are to have successfully completed the palliative HLHS procedure for Caden. As you know Caden’s HLHS condition was going to require a three stage palliative procedure to sustain his life and give him the best chance at having one into the future. Here we are 3.5 years later and Caden has successfully come through all with flying colors.

All three surgeries are behind us and we pray that Caden will have nothing serious happen for a long, long time. His risk of mortality has gone down again with the successful completion of the Fontan. For Melissa and I we have come so far in such a relatively short time.

When Caden had his first surgery, he was a mere baby without words or expressions. Also, Caden was our only child so all of our attention was on him. Fast forward 3 years and here is this kid that knows his ABC’s, colors, shapes and has quite the personality. Funny, silly, smart and beautiful. Tender and rough all at the right times. Also, Caden is the big brother to Griffin now. The two are buddies and Griffin follows Caden around emulates him. When Caden gets up in the morning he wants to get Griffin, and when Griffin gets up in the morning, or from a nap, the first thing he wants to do is find Caden. Our boys collectively is what we are most thankful for. That they are happy and together.

For this surgery, just like the last two, our families rallied around us. They came up to sit with us while the surgery took place which was great. My mom was able to stay at our house and care for Griffin while we were at CHW. We are so thankful for all this support and we would have had a very difficult time if we had to go through this without each of you. Thank you and we love you.

I have decided to attach a video clip to this post. It is one that has not been shared with anyone outside of the Smith house. I watch it probably more often then I should but it really captures what Melissa and I are thankful for. This is a video clip taken the day we brought Caden home from the hospital. It is a moment in time where two brothers, who had spent most of their waking hours together, are reunited after 12 days of separation. Melissa and I had not seen Griffin over that time period either however his eyes are locked on Caden and their embrace is precious.

I will leave you with this and stop by saying. Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for being part of our lives and riding this coaster with us. We are at the station for now. Doing well and very thankful.



David, Melissa, Caden and Griffin