The one year hurdle has been cleared.  No rejection means he has better than average chances of avoiding chronic rejection for a while.   His lungs are perhaps not moving air quite as efficiently as a healthy person but that is alright.  Not that many healthy people are skiing at altitude.  After a 14 year ski drought, Iain got back on to the slopes the weekend of his “lungaversary” Dr. Ivy used to allow Iain to go to Frisco at 9000 feet for a few hours but not to exert himself or stay the night.  Now, without Pulmonary Hypertension, Iain skied from just over 12,000 feet to the base at Copper at 9,700 feet.  He did whinge a few times when he fell and it was cold and he was tired.  I just had to bite my tongue and remind myself that a year ago the child was literally fighting for his life.   So he might not make the next Winter Olympics but his endurance has been greater than many of the great athletes.

Dr. Blatter now only wants to see him in six more months.  As much as we love the doctors and nurses at Saint Louis Children’s Hospital, it will be nice not to have to go back every three months.  Thank you everyone for keeping him in your thoughts.