Great Results

We have the results of Sierra and Lindsey's biopsies back.  We will start with Lindsey. This was Lindsey's first time going 6 months between biopsies. Her Pressures were great and her coronary arteries looked normal. All great news. Her biopsy was a ZERO rejection!! She is doing great.

Sierra's Pressures were lower her pressure went from 22 to 15. The docs are not surprised, newly transplanted hearts take a little bit for the pressures to come down. They are, however,  headed in the right direction. Sierra's rejection results were a 1A. Not a perfect 0, but as close to 0 as you can get. We are very happy and feeling very blessed with both results. Sierra will have her last weekly biopsy next week and then she goes to every other week. Lindsey will be back in 6 months for hers.

In the mean time,  the kids and I found a new Park that they have really enjoyed. While Sierra was hanging out with a friend today,  we snuck in a bike ride and tried a new ice cream spot. It was delicious!

Gage FINALLY lost his first tooth. The kids were playing on the slide and Hunter "accidently" ran into him on the slide. This knocked him forward, he hit his lip and tooth on the slide. Poof!! Tooth out. Once he calmed down from seeing the blood. He was pretty excited. He has even brushed it 3 times to make sure it was clean enough to leave under his pillow.

Clinic for Sierra tomorrow to check in with the doctors. That's it for now. On a side note,  Sierra received an awesome heart necklace that had both her transplant anniversaries on it. We thought we knew who it was from,  but found out it was the wrong person. So,  Thank you to whom ever sent that awesome gift.

 Sierra before staples were taken out.

 Sierra after staples are out.

 Sierra still has a healthy appetite.

Things are Great!

We had a great 4th of July.  Wish we could have all been together as a family, but we tried our best to have fun.  Jason and Megan celebrated in Oregon and the rest of the kids and I celebrate here in California.  We went to a fun brunch hosted by members of our church, then made home made ice cream in sandwich bags.  We walked to downtown Palo Alto and then watched the fireworks from the parking garage across the street at the mall.

Jason and Megan attended our traditional 4th of July activities in Haines.  Megan was ecstatic over the 4th of July breakfast.  Apparently it has been awhile since she had a real breakfast. The Haines parade and pit BBQ then took tickets at the Haines rodeo.  Finished the day off with dinner at Uncle Allen's.  Who are we kidding, it was a rough 4th of July.  We don't care where we celebrate it, it is just funner when we are all together.

Sierra is doing great.  Really not a lot to report.  One of the immunosuppressive drugs is Prograf.  They want her levels to be between 10 and 12.  She had a blood draw yesterday and it was 22 (just a LITTLE bit too high).  So we are readjusting her doses and she will do another blood draw tomorrow during biopsy.  Unfortunately, her kidneys are what take the beating with Prograf.  So, her kidney level was really high as well.  I imagine once we get the Prograf level down, the kidney levels will follow.  This is all really boring I am sure.  It just goes to show that we have nothing exciting to report (which we are happy about).  

A funny story about Sierra, on these steroids, her appetite is VERY healthy, to say the least.  She will eat 5-6 meals a day.  The other morning I woke up at 5 AM.  I noticed that Sierra was not in her bed, nor was she in the bathroom.  I called out her name, after a bit of a pause, she poked her face in the bedroom door that is attached to the kitchen.  When I asked her what she was doing, she said, "I am eating crackers.  I was craving crackers."  I do believe, this is the first time in her almost 16 years, she has ever gotten up, early in the morning, to eat. It was pretty funny.  She is starting to get her prednisone cheeks, but is embarrassed by them.  So I haven't gotten a real good picture of them yet.  I need to be a little more sly.

Yesterday, we had a fun walk to "Cream." A delicious ice cream store in downtown Palo Alto.  They take freshly baked cookies and put ice cream in the middle to make sandwiches.  Very good!! We went with The Blanchards and a friend Angie. We have made good friends with these families.  We are so glad they are here. Both Angie and Katie Blanchard have babies in the hospital.  Katie's is almost a month old and had to have heart surgery, but  is doing great.  They are from Seattle.  Angie has a 1 year old that was born with some heart issues as well.  She is from Idaho Falls.

Both Sierra and Lindsey will have biopsies tomorrow.  Lindsey's will be her annual, where they look at the coronary arteries of her heart.  Clinic on Friday, where we will ask the doctors what the earliest is that they will let us go home if Sierra continues to do so well.  Some fun pictures of the 4th and what I could get of Sierra.

This is Mr. Peery, who hosted the 4th of July party.  Lots of fun. 

Our walk to Pizza My Heart on the 4th  

Our front row seats of the parking structure for the fireworks. You can see them in the back ground.  Our friend Ty Blanchard came with us. 

The kids Ty and Alex finishing up the last show.  Yes we did wash and sanitize the blankets after. 

An attempt to take a picture of Sierra's cheeks.  More to come. 

Everyone with our "feast" at Cream.

Biopsy Results

Sierra had biopsy yesterday at 10. The pressures in her heart were almost double what they were last week. This always gets you a little nervous. Due to the higher Pressures,  they increased her lasix to 3 times daily and increased the length of time the IVIG infused from 12 hours to 18 hours. This made for an even longer day. Lucky for us they updated the hospital movies.  Sierra and I were able to have a Twilight Saga marathon. After a long night,  we were released at 10 this morning. We just received the call that Sierra's biopsy was. .... Another ZERO! !  That just goes to show that you can never call these things. When you think it is going to be bad news, it's good. when your expecting good,  it's bad. Needless to say we are thrilled with the results.

Hunter,  Gage and Lindsey had a slumber party at my dear friend Michelle ' s here in palo Alto. Thank you Michelle,  I don't know what I would do without you. We are going to have a fun 4 th of July and enjoy a nice weekend knowing everything is going well.

On a sad,  yet happy note,  our dear friends the Thomas's are leaving to go back home to Oregon today. We will miss them and their adorable kids. Cute little Tristen, knocking on our door with her cute little,  "Hello. " wyatt giving the boys someone to wrestle with and play football.  And of course the great parents to hang out with. We will be close behind them and look forward to seeing them in Oregon. Happy 4 th of July everyone!

All is Well

I continue to feel guilty posting,  but enough people have asked what the latest with Sierra is.  She is doing great. She had clinic today and there was really nothing new. It is hard to believe she is only 2 weeks post transplant tomorrow.  Her blood pressure was really high last time.  In fact, she had a seizure at about 3 weeks after her transplant.  This time she hasn't needed all the medsfor her blood pressure that she needed before. Tomorrow she has her 2nd boipsy followed by a13 hour IVIG infusion. So it will be a long day.

Hunter and Gage will go with the RMH to the San Francisco aquarium.  Lindsey will come hang out with Sierra and I in Short Stay.  Megan is at a basketball camp with a friends and will return to Oregon tomorrow. Jason will be glad to have someone there with him and the extra hand for work. We are truly blessed!

 Hunter,  Gage and Lindsey playing on the Palo Alto fire truck.

 Tristen's 3 Rd birthday party.

 Super hero day at the RMH.

For Aiden

With a heavy heart I write this post. As incredible as Sierra is doing,  there are others not as fortunate. Little Aiden was 3 years old when we were in the hospital with Lindsey. He was recovering from a heart surgery to correct a heart defect from birth. He was always smiling and happy and would share his toys with Gage. His family is so loving. He was discharged from the hospital and we continued our long wait with Lindsey.

It is interesting to me,  the relationships you make so quickly with people in these circumstances that are life long. We exchanged Christmas cards with this amazing family. They sent us some beautiful glass hearts they made.

When Sierra and I first arrived here in May,  we ran into Aiden and his dad that were at the hospital for clinic. Aiden had been on the transplant list for just over a year. He was able to wait at home, as they lived close enough to the hospital. He was smiling and had a cute engineer hat on to play with the trains at the hospital. He was adorable.

This last Wednesday,  Sierra,  the kids and I went to get some lunch at the hospital cafeteria.  We saw Aiden ' s parents and grandma there. Aiden had received "the call" and had gone into surgery at 4:30 that morning. I was so happy for them,  but the mom alluded that things were not going smoothly. Not knowing what else to say,  with Sierra standing there looking so good,  we went back to Sierra's room. I prayed that things would be okay for them and Aiden.

Unfortunately,  there were many difficulties. He came out of surgery but was not stable and did not survive. My heart aches for this family. They are so amazing. What is so hard for me is, all of Aidens life they have fought for him and his life. They get the call and finally the wait is over. Then to leave the hospital with the very thing that you were fighting for gone. I pay that this sweet family will find peace in knowing that this sweet boy went straight to Heaven. His sweet smile and love impacted so many people. He was truly an angel. We love you Hansen ' s and will constantly be thinking of you.

Discharged Today

Sierra was released from the hospital today.  She made the record.  The soonest they have ever had anyone out after transplant is 10 days, she did it in 8. She looks and acts great other than a little soreness on her chest (understandably so).

So now what?  One might ask.  We are released to go to the RMH where we will stay for 3 months.  She will have weekly biopsies for a month and then they will go every other week, then monthly.  This will go along with weekly clinic visits and echos.  She had 2 more 13 hour IVIG infusions, one next week and the other 2 weeks following.  They will retest her antibodies and if she is negative she will not have to have the IVIG again.  She is so strong that she will not be needing any physical therapy.  Compared to the schedule Lindsey had, Sierra's is a breeze.  Lindsey had physical therapy and psych that added a lot of extra appointments.  With this schedule, we should be back home in time to start school, which will be wonderful!!

I added a few pictures from the last couple days.  We were able to see Shaambak and Ben who look absolutely amazing.  As well as their awesome parents.  So good to see our dear friends. The hospital showed the new Pixar movie, "Inside Out."  Unfortunately, Sierra did not see any of it, because she was getting educated so she could be discharged.  We will have to hit a matinee.

We are so grateful for how this has turned out. Also,  for another family that has found the ability to give through a  tragic situation.  We feel so truly blessed right now, our hearts are full. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts.