Officially Listed This Morning

We woke up to the news that they listed Bailey for a trasplant this morning. So, the waiting begins. Please don't think I'm awful, but in a very bizarre way, there's a kind of excitement about the whole looking-for-a-heart process. Now, before you shut down your computer, let me go on. Last night Bailey's night nurse said he had a transplant patient across the hall who was in for an overnight stay and asked Bailey if she wanted to talk to him. Amazingly enough, she said yes. So, Colin and his family (mom, dad and sis) came over last night at 11:30 (yeah, I used to go to bed at 9 pm, but Bailey has changed all that!) and they talked with us for a while. He's a cute kid. He's 19 and was transplanted 2 years ago. He's grown 9 inches in those 2 years. He said he used to be small and thin like Bailey but he has felt so good since his transplant. Unfortunately, he doesn't do a great job at taking his medication and that's why he was in here overnight - to get some I.V. meds to "tune him up". We really enjoyed our talk. They're a great family. Bailey and he have a lot in common too. They were both born with a defect and had heart issues off and on their entire lives; he was on a VAD (not the Berlin Heart) for 2 weeks (although he didn't do so well on it - they kept him in a drug-induced coma the whole time) hoping for his heart to recover; and then was listed for transplant. It only took him 3 days to get his heart. Dr. T turned down 5 other hearts before he found the "perfect one" for Colin. I'm sure he'll do the same for Bailey. Before Colin went home today, he dropped off a gift for Bailey and a card with his address and email address so she can contact him whenever she wants someone to talk to. He is such a neat guy. It was good for Bailey to meet him, too, because he looks like a normal stylish kid. He had his hair highlighted and spiky, wore his jeans a little baggy, and just looked like a normal "in" kind of guy. He plays basketball for fun and really is not limited in the things he can do except for no contact sports. I don't think that's up Bailey's alley anyway! WFMS came this morning to interview Bailey for the telethon they're doing for Riley in June. I hope I didn't offend Vickie Murphy (another well-known radio personality). I met her at the door and said "Isn't Mimi here?" But Vickie was very nice and Bailey liked her a lot too. Especially when she talked about Keith Urban and how she's a huge fan too!! Of course, Bailey showed her the autographed picture. Bailey was pampered like crazy this afternoon. A very nice lady named "Dusty" came and cut Bailey's hair and gave her highlights, gave her a manicure, a pedicure, styled her hair and put make-up on her. She also left behind some goodies for Bailey's make-up collection. She had so much fun! The doctors and nurses kept peeking in her window wanting to get in line for their turn. Dr. T came by and couldn't believe all the "girlie stuff" that was going on in here. He's concerned that Bailey's having so much fun that she won't want to leave the hospital! We're waiting on cousing Mallery to come spend the night with us. Bailey's already ordered homemade lasagna from her dad for dinner, and she's requested 10:00 p.m. pizza from Pappa John's. So, the night's already planned out for us! Last night about 8:00 she was hammering a birdhouse together and started painting it today. We have all sorts of stuff going on in this room. When the doctors explained to us that Bailey's situation is unprecedented, I don't think they had the carpentry and "girlie stuff" in mind too! Dinner's here, so I'll sign off now. I get to go home in the morning for the weekend, so I'll report back on Sunday evening. Hope all is well, and thank you for your continued prayers! Love, Angie