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| It didn't take long for me to realize the Lord was working in our lives. People back home rallied around our cause and began to send us frozen home-cooked meals. They arranged a fund-raiser and a car-wash. A friend put flyers and collection bins around the local stores to raise more money. Three papers picked up our story, resulting in monetary donations coming in from all over the globe. We were on prayer chains all over North America, South America, Europe, and elsewhere. The amount of support we received - without asking anyone but the Lord, mind you - was absolutely awesome. We lacked nothing. Bills continued to be paid. My husband's supervisor gave him days and days off to be with me and the baby in Denver. Family members from the east coast took turns coming out and staying at our home to help care for our pets and older son during this difficult time. The outpouring of love was simply mind-boggling. We continued in this way for only five weeks before a donor heart was found. We were very fortunate for the wait to be so short. The donor was in Tennessee, a two-and-a-half-year-old boy named Nicholas. You may wonder how a six-week old baby can take the heart of an older child. Well, Jason's heart was enlarged to about twice the normal size as it continued to try to compensate for the missing half. Jason Jason, waiting for surgery. was prepared for surgery and I called everyone I could think of. The surgery waiting room was filled with well-wishers who had decided to come down to Denver and wait with us. We were updated periodically by the Transplant Coordinator, who was present during surgery. All went well, and by the early morning hours I was standing next to my baby in the intensive care unit, in awe of the num- ber of tubes and wires that connected him to all sorts of pumps and monitors. The most important thing that I noticed, however, was how pink his skin was, all the way down to his toes, which were actually warm for a change. (If you would like to see a picture of how Jason looked right out of surgery, click here. It's not a pretty picture.) So now a new waiting game had begun; the waiting to see if his body accepts or rejects the new organ. But the odds are more in our favor here, because an infant's immune system is not fully developed. The younger the infant, the higher the liklihood that his body will accept the transplanted organ. Still, as with any surgery, there are all sorts of risks to factor in. There is always that "critical period" that the doctors warn you about, where things could go wrong and sometimes do. That's what happened with Jason as well. |
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