Welcome Home, Allie!

(Emma was at track practice)

Freedom (At Last!)

It's the day that seemed quite impossible--I am out of the hospital after 3 months and who knows how many days!!!! People have asked "What was it like finally getting out?"
Well, at first I was nervous--would everything be what I thought it would be? Most of it was. My first step out, a breeze blew, making all the smells of the city rush to my nose. The first thing I smelled was cigarrette smoke, then the wonderful, pollute-filled wiff of car gas. Farther along our journey to the Ronald McDonald House, I could smell flowers...flowers!!! The walk was tiring (two and a half blocks is hard when your longest walk in the hospital was two and a half hallways) and I had to rest my feet on the bed. It's all embarrassing--I'm still building balance and muscle. Who knew you could lose so much strength after a heart transplant?
Anyways, the Ronald McDonald is great, although there's this one manual elevator that my dad and I will never, ever use again--we got stuck in it for about fifteen minutes until some of the staff ladies came and saved us. (If any of you ever have to stay here, use the stairs or the elevator that is not manual.)
I can tell life will get better, at least, I'm hoping so. I'm not getting too riled up about leaving on Thursday--the doctors said it was a maybe, so I'm not raising my hopes.
But I do know I'm getting out, and I'll stick with that for now.

Time to Celebrate!

Barring any hiccups in Allie's amazing progress, by this time tomorrow she will be moving freely outside, breathing fresh air for the first time in 3 months!! Better have a box of tissues when we leave. I'll be crying all the way to the Ronald McDonald House.

Even better, we were told this morning that if Allie's clinic results Thursday morning are good (& I think they expect them to be), she'll be home Thursday afternoon!! Hallelujah!!! Feeling overwhelmed with a whole mixed bag of emotions.

Well, this part of the journey will continue just as the rest has unfolded...one step at a time trusting in God's goodness & grace to guide us. Our well of gratitude is deep & full for the way our family has been sustained by the love & kindness of family, friends, neighbors & strangers.

Humbly,
Fran

Life in Children's Memorial Hospital

Hello from rm. 517!!! This is Allison--for the third time, but the first after the transplant. People have been very supportive and just this morning my mom handed me a ten-pound plate of heart-shaped cards from the Pancake Cafe. I think I opened about thirty, and I'm not even a fourth done.
People have asked me if I feel different or like a new person--I GUESS, if I think really hard. I feel exactly the same, except there's a little chest pain because of a new heart. I've also been asked what I want to do once I get out of here--to me, getting out of here means going to the Kohl's House. I won't be home, but at least I'll be tons freer with more chance of getting outside. In the Kohl's House, I'll probably walk down the halls, go up and down the elevator till it breaks, and go outside to enjoy at least some freedom. When I'm free--truly free as in home--I'll spend time outside, and hang out. I want to do anything that the doctors will allow me. The first month is really stay at home--but the last two months I have more freedom, so I'd go to the pool sometimes, and I want to go on vacation--I hope I can at least do that. Once you spend two and a half months in a hospital going completely crazy, you'll do anything once you get out.
I want to go to the movies too, except i think this is pretty impossible for a while, but I want movie popcorn--I haven't had it in so long, and it's so buttery and good. I'll probably just make some at home.
A few people have asked me if I saw that Naperville news thing about me--sort of, but I didn't see any pictures. I just hope they're good ones. I swear, it must be a tough world to live in if the only way some people can get popular or have their face stamped onto the newspaper is to get a heart transplant. Oh, well.
I'm happy it's spring, and as the trees and flowers are budding and blooming, I suppose you can say that I am, too.

Allison and Erin Hunter

Allison and "Warriors" author Erin Hunter (aka Victoria Holmes). For those of you who don't know the story, the Warriors series of books is one of Allie's all-time favorites. Friends of ours, Lori and Brian, contacted Erin Hunter through the Warriors' Web site. Vicky (pen name Erin Hunter) was so moved that she wanted to meet Allie, and suggested that they do so the next time she was in the US, which happened to be in April when she had a book signing. Long story short, since Allie couldn't make it to the book signing, Vicky was gracious enough to visit Allie at Children's. They had a great time together for about an hour and a half. Thank you Vicky for being so supportive and giving. Allie still has a smile on her face from the visit.

Allie is back in 517!

Allie began her day by saying goodbye to Schroeder, her IV pole, & is ending her day back in her old room on 5West. What a glorious day!! You'll hopefully see a post from Allie on these events in the next couple days. Her thoughts on this are more important (& interesting) than mine.

We've already taken a walk around the floor & stopped at our favorite window to view the skyline. We laughed because she pressed her nose to the window to get as close to the fresh air as possible. She's about a week away from breathing it in. Hallelujah!!

More to come!

On track to be out of ICU on Monday

Looks like we have a good chance of being out of ICU on Monday. Two factors are at stake: she first has to get off of Milrinone, the last actual IV drug that she's on, and secondly, a room has to become available up on the 5th floor cardiology unit. We think the second part is being taken care of. Our understanding is that they are cleaning the room right now. Apparently it's a triple wash-down. They should bring in my Grandmother, she could have gotten it done in one.

So Allie is looking and feeling great. No real pain, no grabbing at her chest, no wincing or grimacing. She had a biopsy (catheterization) done yesterday to determine the rejection level of her heart. There was no rejection. In fact, as I look over at the monitor, her heart rate is down about 20 points. And now she's eating breakfast and laughing at Veggie Tales because the Tomato is singing an opera song. She says she's laughing so much because she hasn't laughed in a while. It's good to see her smiling again. Couple of bathroom jokes and she'll be up in no time.

So here is what she can do and what her days look like:

• She is on a low fat diet and an anti-microbial diet while in the hospital. Basically what this means in turkey bacon and no un-cooked vegetables or certain fruits. She can have bananas and melon, but not strawberries or apples. Any fruit with a thin membrane is out for awhile. Not forever, just a few weeks until she's on lower doses of the immun-suppressants.
• Allie regurlarly gets out of bed and sits in a chair. She is sitting in a chair right now and eating turkey bacon and Captain Crunch and some toast. Come to think of it, this is the first meal that we didn't have to coax us to eat more. So maybe her appetite is coming back.
• Allie goes for walks around the ICU. Fran and she did one yesterday and we'll shoot for two today. She wears a mask and we walk along side her in case she gets too tired.
• When Allie goes upstairs, she can leave her room but has to wear a mask. The immuno-supressants make this necessary.
• Allie is back in her regular clothes. Pajamas, actually. She's been in pajamas ever since she got here. I'm sure it will be nice to put on some jeans---that day is coming soon.
• Her IV pole--aka Schroeder of Peanuts fame--is down to three bags of stuff (from 11 a week ago). No oxygen or Nitric Oxide tanks in the room.

Two weeks. That's what we have left here. Maybe not even that much. Every day less makes a big difference. We're starting to think about how we make our exit. Actually, it's Allie's exit, not ours. She says she doesn't want a limo (though Grace is lobbying hard). She wants something simple with not too much fanfare. She's a shy kid who loves to laugh at Veggie Tales and Spongebob---which now that I think about it---that's exactly how she came into this place.

It's good to see that some things haven't changed.