Eleven Years

I didn’t know how else to title this post. On Monday, December 2 we celebrated 11 years with Zoe’s new heart. By celebrated, I mean we woke up, she went to school and then did something fun with her dad and sister in the evening. Low key. Mostly a regular day. That’s what we’ve been working for though right?

For the first few years after the transplant, December 2nd was like an extra birthday. When Zoe was in elementary school I made and sent heart shaped goodies for her to share with her class and she got gifts. As a kid who already had a lot of stuff, this got old (for my bank account) really quickly. We wanted to celebrate the day, but I wanted to do it in a meaningful way. A few years in, I got the idea of a Christmas ornament since her heartiversary is in December. Every year, I give her an ornament and the goal is that someday, when she’s grown and has a tree of her own, she will have all these special ornaments to decorate it with.

This year Zoe turned 17 and got her license and her dad got her a car. She looks pretty cute tooling around town in her tiny red hot wheels car. She started her Junior year of high school and is starting to think about plans for College. She attended Homecoming in October and made the HONOR roll for the first grading period. Now that I have the proof that she’s capable of it this means a lot less slack than she’s gotten in years past. #sorrynotsorry

Her heart is in great shape. Her stomach issues remain a mystery though and GI believes she’s lactose intolerant. Getting Zoe to stop eating dairy seems to be an uphill battle. FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY…STEP AWAY FROM THE CHEESE STICK! Some of her kidney function tests came back increased a couple of months ago so her Tacro dose has been slightly lowered and she’s got an appointment to check in with nephrology in January. Yay! A new specialist.

As always, we’re eternally grateful.