Gabriella's 7th Birthday

Blessed every day by having another 24 hours of time, we were able to celebrate another birthday milestone this weekend! Gabriella turned 7 years old on Saturday January 14... something that without the ear of her pediatrician, talent of her surgeons and selflessness of her donor family would not have been possible. This is her 2nd birthday since her heart transplant, and we couldn't be more grateful to have had it!

We had a little get together at the park with some friends and family, and just enjoyed time united again to celebrate this moment. Our family, friends and all of you reading and involved have been pivotal to this journey and Paul and I thank you again and again!

Here is last years post with old pictures of our princess! http://www.gabriellasheart.com/2011/01/blessed-birthday.html

And here she was on her birthday, at a photo shoot for Make-a-Wish Arizona Chapter! How did we get so lucky to have not only a daily miracle in her, but an amazing little boy as well?

Job 5:9 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.

Jesus>Religion

Came across this today and it is remarkable. Had to share!

"If grace is water, the church should be an ocean. Museum for good people, a hospital for the broken..... ".



You can download the full text here: http://www.box.com/s/z3k53ec3ssbo800ppeld

First clinic of 2012

Gabriella's clinic went well yesterday overall. She is a growing girl with no major issues to be worried about!


We are still dealing with post-rejection recovery (yes, 7 months later...). It takes a LONG time to wean off medications used to battle rejection and transition the heart to it's "normal". Baby steps in weaning and testing to make sure the heart hardly notices the changes. We are finally weaning her steroid, which is the big indicator to see how her heart is going to hold up on its own again. Once it is completely weaned off, they will do another biopsy to see how her heart reacts to it. Will rejection reappear or will she be in the clear? Until then, she will remain on all of the heart failure meds they added to her medication list in June.


Her ECHO showed overall good function, but noticing increased mitral valve regurgitation. Her next cath/biopsy is on 2/15 to see if rejection resurfaces off steroid and check status of her coronary arteries, but we will be watching her valve issues via ECHO until then. It could be a new baseline issue for her heart as a result of the rejection she went through, but if it remains minimal, she can manage like that.


But for now, we focus on her turning 7 next week!!! What a blessing to have another birthday!! She is amazing... And so strong! Thank you to everyone still keeping her and our family in your prayers! We could use a little extra as the new year begins and as we face this upcoming biopsy! Praying for ZERO rejection!