Moving right along...

Hello All.

I’ve been asked by so many of you, I figured an update is in order.  At the beginning of January I started the liver meds to the tune of $5.00 a month!  Praise God for his provision!  And to top it off-no side effects thus far.  I also had a couple of weeks of feeling less tired and out of breath, and able to be upright for longer periods during the day.  I was able to cook dinner, do school at our kitchen table (instead of my bed) and I even had the opportunity to go shopping with my Mom and Leah-without my wheelchair-as I didn’t need it!  Four stores and lunch & I didn’t once get winded J

Of course, perhaps I pushed myself too much, as by the following Sunday, the sails of my “second wind” were deflating and I’m finding myself out of breath walking too much around the house and my crazy gymnastics in my chest are back.  Oh well…it was a nice reprieve, though I’m having to “relearn” in that short amount of time to slow it down and kick back again.

On January 21^st, I met with the heart transplant team at Stanford and I’m now undergoing tests to see if I’m a candidate for a heart transplant there.  I felt like the prodigal daughter coming home-as that was where I had my first heart transplant when I was 17.  Yes-I’ll have to re-do all the tests I did with Sutter-except the angiogram, plus some extra tests with the liver. They didn’t waste any time and I had an appointment scheduled last Thursday with one of their liver docs, who also consults on cases for liver transplants. 

Scott and I were both pleased to learn that I will not be needing a new liver (that was in question during our Stanford visit).  I’ve been scheduled for more blood work this week and an additional test (locally) with my gastro doc this Thursday.  So it begins…again. 

And through it all our family continues to be humbled and blessed by friends, family and strangers through notes of encouragement and random acts of kindness and generosity.  When we started this journey in July, I mentioned this was going to be a long process, but I figured that would mean the waiting for the heart and my deteriorating health.  I had no idea the challenges I’d face getting listed or the new health issues that would arise due to the testing.  And not once have any of you lost hope or stepped away from your willingness to help out when and where needed and we are so grateful to you all for that. 

I had a couple of songs I’d heard recently this week that I thought I might want to share with you, but I couldn’t decide which one, and asked God to help me choose.  I jumped on itunes to listen to them to see if I could tell which one, and He gave me a completely different song I’d never heard before.  I listened to it with tears rolling down my face, and knew this was it. 

Tell Your Heart to Beat Again-Danny Gokey

Shattered, like you've never been before
The life you knew
In a thousand pieces on the floor
Words fall short in times like these
When this world drives you to your knees
You think you're never gonna get back
To the you that used to be

(Chorus)
Tell your heart to beat again
Close your eyes and breathe it in
Let the shadows fall away
Step into the light of Grace
Yesterday's a closing door
You don't live there anymore
Say goodbye to where you've been
And tell your heart to beat again

Beginning, just let that word wash over you
It's alright now
Love's healing hands have pulled you through
So get back up and take step one
Leave the darkness feel the sun
Cause your story's far from over
And your journey's just begun

(Chorus)
Tell your heart to beat again
Close your eyes and breathe it in
Let the shadows fall away
Step into the light of Grace
Yesterday's a closing door
You don t live there anymore
Say goodbye to where you've been
And tell your heart to beat again

Let every heartbreak and every scar
Be a picture that reminds you Who has carried you this far
‘Cause love sees farther than you ever could
In this moment Heaven's working everything for your good

(Chorus)
Tell your heart to beat again
Close your eyes and breathe it in
Let the shadows fall away
Step into the light of Grace
Yesterday's a closing door
You don't live there anymore
Say goodbye to where you've been
And tell your heart to beat again
Your heart to beat again, beat again

Oh, so tell your heart to beat again