Saturday, January 4, 2014

2 years post-transplant!

Well, officially, Ben got his transplant 2 years ago tomorrow. It was 2 years ago tonight, at 10:30 pm, that I was sitting in his room in the PICU, getting settled in and ready to go to bed. I had just gotten my last snack of the night. Our nurse came in and told me Dr. G. (forever our favorite cardiologist. Not just because he was the one who gave us the call. But he is just a great dr!) was on the phone for me. I was a little worried because, well, why would he be calling me at 10:30 at night? He had called to tell me that a heart was available for Ben. They, of course, needed to make sure it was the perfect heart. But, they were confident that it would be. And it was. At 7:45 the next morning, on Jan 5th, (after me thinking it would be sometime around 4:30 or 5), Ben went back to the OR. I had many many kisses for him before he went back (And had been holding his hand and kissing him all through the night before. It had been a sleepless night). It was, after all, a very serious procedure. It only took about 5 hours. But, we were very anxious the whole time. My whole family was there as well, including my mom, sister, and grandma. We were updated very frequently. And he came through beautifully! He even had his chest closed!

We were, and always will be grateful to his donor! A mom and dad out there made the most selfless decision in their time of grief, so that our son could live. Up until then, we did not know if he would live to see his second birthday. And today, he is 2 years old, and was at Medieval Times with his sisters and cousins having a great day! And he has been able to play out in the snow, like any normal 2 year old boy, and do most things other kids his age can do. We are forever thankful that his donor has given him the gift of life!

2 years ago, and today

Playing in the snow with his sisters

Enjoying the show with his sisters and cousins