Stanford Here We Come

Mason is loving the nice weather. But, we've come across a certain issue with him......... He never had to be taught to stay out of the street before now! He wasn't ever healthy or strong enough to go out and play with the other kiddos. Our street is rather quiet and all the older kids play in the street; ripsticking, skateboarding, riding bikes, playing kickball etc, but Mason doesn't understand to get out of the way when cars come. He thinks he can be out there with everyone else riding his little bike (or rather pushing with his feet) right down the middle of the street. It's like teaching a dog something he should have learned as a puppy! What to do???? I will say though, It is very exciting to see him finally outside playing with the other kiddos!

Next week we head to Stanford for Mason's one year post transplant biopsy and heart cath. It will be just 10 days before his actual Angel Heart Birthday. It seems like a dream. It seems surreal that a year ago at this time we thought we'd be waiting several more months for his new heart. Daily, I prayed with every part of who I am, with every single bit of FAITH and HOPE that I could find within me that my Mason would live long enough to receive the gift of a new heart! And now.....it's almost been beating within him for almost a year! Prayers were answered and prayers are still answered. He is doing amazing well. The first year post transplant is very critical....and Mason has endured fighting like a champ.

Mason and I will be in Palo Alto Monday through Friday. His big day at the hospital will be Wednesday March 23. This heart cath will tell us, as all other biopsies have about rejection, as well as how healthy his heart is ; checking blood flow in his pulmonary arteries and veins and pulmonary pressures. I am nervous to hear about his left pulmonary veins with the stenosis. I just pray and hope it is not causing any problems to his new heart.

The news of this biopsy and heart cath will also dictate whether Mason can start coming off his steroids and some of his other meds. I sure hope the answer is yes! I'm ready to get Mason off these "grumpy" steroids and to start taking him more places. Right now the only place in public

we still go is just to the hospital. It's time he can explore life just a little more! Please join us in prayer for ZERO rejection and a healthy "good news" report next week.

A special thank-you to an anonymous friend who donated sky miles to us for our trip down to Stanford!!! What a pleasant surprise. I am absolutely grateful for this kind gift. I was concerned about adding the cost of our plane tickets to all of Mason's unpaid medical bills (which I think may take my whole lifetime to pay off, but I don't care because my baby is alive!!!), so again thank-you, thank-you, thank-you to our special secret friend.

It's been a while since I've left you with a quote or two, so today I will. I've been thinking a lot lately about persevering and enduring through trials and just crazy life period..... Of which Mason is definitely my example and hero. Here is what I have to share:

"In 1968 a marathon runner by the name of John Stephen Akhwari represented Tanzania in an international competition. 'A little over an hour after [the winner] had crossed the finish line, John Stephen Akhwari . . . approached the stadium, the last man to complete the journey. [Though suffering from fatigue, leg cramps, dehydration, and disorientation,] a voice called from within to go on, and so he went on. Afterwards, it was written, "Today we have seen a young African runner who symbolizes the finest in human spirit, a performance that gives meaning to the word courage." When asked why he would complete a race he could never win, Akhwari replied, 'My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race; my country sent me to finish the race.'

"He knew who he was—an athlete representing the country of Tanzania. He knew his purpose—to finish the race. He knew that he had to endure to the finish, so that he could honorably return home to Tanzania. Our mission in life is much the same. We were not sent by Father in Heaven just to be born. We were sent to endure and return to Him with honor." (~Elder Robert D. Hales)

"Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!" (~Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf)