Mateo and McHale Update!

Imagine if everytime your child got sick, you had to wonder "Is this the flu, or is this something that's going to require me to run him to the emergency room for another surgery?"

And then imagine that you'd already done that, already run your little boy to the hospital for surgery, had to hold his hand while they gave him anesthetic and then had to sit in the hall and wait and hope that he made it through surgery -- and then imagine that you'd done that already 10, 15, 20 or more times.

That's life for Ryan and Angie Shaw -- that and insurmountable medical bills they face after their twins, Mateo and McHale, were born conjoined and then beat the odds to survive the separation.

Ryan and Angie and Mateo and McHale don't let that kind of trouble get them down; even though this week everyone in the family was sick, Angie reports in her Caring Bridge Journal:

Besides being sick the boys are doing really good. They love to talk, sing and play. It seems like they have their own little language and can be best of buddies at times, but they still fight just like any other siblings do. What is funny is if we ask either boy if they were conjoined, they look at us seriously and say "Yes" or " Yeah" and nodd their heads at us. Who knows what they know or remember but we do show them pictures, we don't want them to be shocked someday by everything!

Not only are they singing, talking, but they're going to go trick-or-treating; stay tuned for more updates.

Mateo and McHale Shaw were born conjoined twins; they were given a 5% chance of survival, but nearly three years later they're still going strong. They've maxed out their medical insurance, though, and need help paying for their medical needs. To make a tax deductible contribution, send money to: The Mateo and McHale Shaw Irrevocable SNT, c/o Kohler Credit Union, 850 Woodlake Road, Kohler, WI 53044.

To follow the boys' more closely, click on this link and type mateoandmchale into the box that asks you to visit a Caring Bridge website.