A late Anniversary

As said before I am a bad Mom that is a little slow sometimes on getting things done, so this is another late post. A very special anniversary passed a few months ago and I was a little busy to post this on the actual date, or right month for that matter. But I have been wanting to do this for a while, and this is a big deal. The anniversary of Gracie's liver transplant was two years ago as of April 28th.

The first year of Gracie's life was very eventful. The long and the short of it is she was born with a disease that caused her liver to fail and she was put on the donor list in February of 2008. We had 2 false alarms with a possible liver which were very gut wrenching, but the surgeon wanted just the right liver to put into my sweet girl. It took almost three months for us to get "the call" because there is a national shortage of people on the donor list.

Right before her transplant, don't adjust your color, she really was that yellow. She also had the flu she had gotten in the hospital so we weren't supposed to touch her.
Gracie was really sick before the surgery. We were so blessed in every step of this journey. We were able to have the surgery performed at a brand new, state of the art children's hospital, only an hour from where we lived. The staff at the hospital were amazing, many of the nurses became my friends, sometimes by default since I was there for so long. And the liver team/specialists were phenomenal, again many of them becoming my friends to help us through this whole process. I used to wonder why we moved to Colorado when we had no job there and knew only one friend, but now I know that the Lord helped us be exactly where Gracie needed to be for her transplant.

Gracie right after transplant, lots of tubes, but she already looks a little better.

This is the first time I got to hold Gracie in almost 4 weeks.

There are some very interesting things that you learn or go through when you are dealing with a sick kid trial. (1) If there is a possibility that you will spend the night in the hospital, have a bag packed because you husband will somehow find some underwear that does not fit and something that you have not worn since high school ( I had to borrow scrubs from the hospital on more then one occasion). (2) I could hear the helicopter anywhere I was in the hospital anytime because that could possible be a new liver coming in. (3) Family will do amazing things for you during your trails: My sister called every temple in the US to put Gracie on the prayer lists and she said it was very fun to hear all the different accents. My Mom got on a plane with 2 hrs. notice to be by my side and some of my good friends spent the night with us on a very snowy night to wait out the 12 hour surgery to make sure everything went okay. (4) You hardly get any sleep in a hospital and no privacy. (5) You will make deals with God when you find out your child is going to die that you thought not possible. (6) There are some amazing people that volunteer at children's hospitals, like people that bring their dogs, will read to your kids while you shower or eat and lots of groups that bring in dancing, singing and games. (7) Modern day miracles happen around us everyday, have faith the Lord will not forsake you. I could go on and on, I am a different person from that year.

Gracie had to have a crazy breathing contraption becuase she had fluid in her chest. It looks bad but it was so much better then the breathing tube again.
I want to reiterate to you that without the donor Gracie would not be alive today. There is a national shortage of organ donors in this country, so I ask you to please do this and talk to your family about it so they all understand your wishes ( they can provoke the rights to your organs after you are gone). This includes donating your blood as well, Gracie replaced almost all of her blood during her transplant and had other transfusions as well. I wanted to end with a little bit of the letter that we wrote to the family that we received the liver from.

This is the amazing surgeon that performed her transplant. He was incredible.

I can not begin to tell you how sorry I am for your loss. This sounds so simple and plain after your loss, but thank you. Thank you for your courage and strength. During the worst moment of your life you chose to think of someone else. I thank you for your example that you have set for me for the rest of my life. And I thank you for the miracle that you provided me and my family. I wish I could give you a big hug and let you meet my daughter. I promise you that someday you will see your child again and he will be strong and whole and perfect again. I will pray for your family always.

Our Gracie toay, fun and healthy!