Conjoined McDonald Twins Update: Parents Of Separated Babies Are Grateful On Thanksgiving

Jadon and Anias McDonald, the conjoined twins who were separated Oct. 14, received poems, handmade cards and get-well notes from prisoners at Otisville Correctional Facility in upstate New York.

“It's the best gift I've ever gotten,” the twins’ mother, Nicole McDonald, told CNN in an exclusive report Thursday. She and her husband, Christian, are thankful for the support they’ve received over the past month.

A note from a stranger can help turn their day around. “When you're just about running out of gas, it's the constant fuel that not only feels good because people care so much, it rejuvenates me in a way that I can't explain,” Nicole said. The McDonalds get daily messages through Facebook and the mail.

The prayers are what really helped them get through. “I think our prayers did influence God to help out,” Christian told CNN Thursday. “I know God hears prayers.”

All of the optimism and love has changed Nicole’s outlook. “Instead of seeing the ugly hearts of people, I get to see the best hearts of people all the time,” she said. “And it shows me continually that most people are good. We get this perception that most people aren't, but what I'm seeing is so amazing to me.”

Before Oct. 14, the twin boys were separated at the head during an operation at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center. Even though the surgery was successful, the boys have suffered seizures, infections and fevers. Still, the 13-month-old boys are progressing and having a fast recovering.

The children are progressing “right on target, if not ahead of schedule,” the lead neurosurgeon for their case told CNN Nov. 10.

“As a neurosurgeon, I guess it puts you in a happy mood,” said Dr. James Goodrich, who led the operation at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

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