More Good News

We had an echo today with Dr. Darragh. All went very well. We had a talk about how things look overall and he said Bailey's heart function is great, and her PA pressures are good and continuing to go down and will likely continue to go down very slowly over the next years as her heart re-adjusts itself. He said the only issue her heart has is her tendency to fall out of rhythm. If that continues on a regular basis, he might consider a pacemaker to keep that under control but we don't expect anything to happen with that anytime soon. I then had to ask him the question I've kept in the back of my head this past year - "So, what are your thoughts on the possibility of a transplant now?" He said, of course, that we don't know what will happen in the future, but he doesn't expect to have to talk to us about a transplant before he retires. My first reaction was a squeal, but I had to ask him if he planned on retiring anytime soon. Ha! He said since his kids are in school, he expects to be there for another decade at least. So, back to squealing! Isn't that incredible?! We're so happy. Bailey and I hi-5'd each other. The possibility of a pacemaker compared to the possibility of a transplant - there really is no comparison. We have been blessed more than we could have imagined. We are still giddy over life. Every day is happy and the every-day stresses have dwindled away. There really are no every-day stresses when we've survived what we've survived the past 14 years. God is good, isn't he?

I think it's OK for me to share this information, but I got a call from the CEO of Berlin Heart in Germany last week and he invited me and Bailey to come over in December to help them celebrate their 10th year anniversary. No P.R., no press, nothing like that - as a gift to their employees, they just want them to be able to meet Bailey. Is that incredible, or what?! An unbelievable opportunity. We immediately checked with her doctors to see if Bailey could physically and medically make the trip, and they gave the OK. Then, later, we found out that the Berlin guys had already checked with the doctors before they even invited us - they didn't want to raise our hopes only to have them dashed if the doctors wouldn't let her go. That was very considerate of them - they seem like such sweet and caring people. We absolutely can't wait to meet them face-to-face -- all 150 of them! They're getting us a hotel in Berlin for 5 or 6 days and one of those days, when they close the business for their anniversary celebration, they're taking us along with them to Christmas Market in Dresden (I think is the name), south of Berlin. They say we don't know what that is, but it's a big deal over there. Google it, you guys! It's beautiful! So, we'll be doing some Christmas shopping! Unfortunately, neither Tom or the girls get to go with us -- we'll miss them horribly -- but it will nonetheless be an incredible journey for us. I just really can't express how excited we are for this trip. I'll be sure and post lots of pictures upon our return.

In the meantime, still don't know about when the documentary will air on ABC. But will let you know as soon as we do!

Hope all is well out there. I have to get Josie to a skating party.
Love to all!
Angie