FORTUNE, N.L. — Infectious laughter fills an Eldon Street home in Fortune.
Inside, three-year-old AJ Matterface dashes around on his scooter, pausing only to gaze momentarily at cartoons playing on the TV in the living room.
The house belongs to Doris Matterface and the laughter to her grandson AJ, who lives there with his father Morley.
It’s hard to imagine that, just a few weeks ago, this little bundle of energy endured a seven-hour surgery to repair his heart. Months ago, the simple act of play would leave him tired and sweating.
The surgery was performed at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, was to repair two holes in AJ’s heart, one in the wall dividing the upper two chambers and another in the wall dividing the lower chambers. During the operation, surgeons discovered more than they expected, according to AJ's grandmother.
“He had what we thought was one hole at the top of his heart. It was actually three holes ... showing up on the echocardiogram as one hole. So they fixed that,” said Doris Matterface. “They used a piece of his own heart to fix that.”
Using a synthetic patch, doctors also repaired a large hole in the wall between his right and left ventricles.
The surgery lasted seven-and-a-half hours, with a nurse providing the family hourly updates.
AJ was released from the Halifax hospital Jan. 21, but the family could not immediately return to Newfoundland and Labrador because of the state of emergency in St. John’s after the record-setting blizzard that week.
Matterface said there has been a noticeable change in AJ since the surgery.
"He’s a different child,” she said. “He’s happier, more content, he’s not as irritable as he used to be because, I guess, before he was feeling unwell most of the time, and now he feels so good that he is just happy all the time.”
She added AJ is able to play now without becoming easily fatigued.
“From the time he gets up, he’s good all day until bedtime and around 8:30 p.m he starts saying he wants to go to bed.”
Although he is active, AJ will have to follow some guidelines to ensure a successful recovery.
There is a six-week healing time, his grandmother said.
“You can’t imagine how good it feels to be able to go to bed and not have to worry about AJ, not have to worry that something is going to happen to him." Doris Matterface
“So he’s got to be very, very careful for six weeks ‘cause his chest bone is all broken open and that’s all fused back together.”
She added they also have to make sure AJ doesn’t fall and injure his chest.
"We’ve got to be looking out for infections, infections could do a lot of damage.”
Doris Matterface said no words can describe how it feels to see AJ being active and healthy.
“You can’t imagine how good it feels to be able to go to bed and not have to worry about AJ, not have to worry that something is going to happen to him,” she said.
“It’s such a good feeling to know that he is finally well, his heart is finally fixed, he’s well on his way now.”
