The last couple of weeks have been quite exciting during Ivy’s continued recovery. The UCLA Pediatric Heart Transplant team arranged an appointment to visit the pathology lab where they are keeping her old heart. The experience was surreal, yet very interesting, and “so cool”, as Ivy put it. Ivy was able to touch and hold her heart and we learned that it has already been used for teaching purposes. You could see how the walls of her heart had become thicker than normal, as it was trying so hard to do its job. There was also her pacemaker wire, still inserted inside, which had been placed there almost 5 years ago.

Although it seems as if things are getting back to being a little more normal, she is still dealing with some visual problems, muscle weakness, medication side effects, and low stamina. She has a full week coming up including seeing an eye doctor, lab work, cardiac rehab and physical therapy. Her next heart biopsy/catheterization is scheduled for April 25, which should give the cardiac team some more information going forward. We are very thankful for the expertise of the UCLA team and the continued support and love from our family and friends during this journey.

Last week, the doctors granted Ivy a little more freedom and independence to help her to heal. She took advantage of this by going shopping, visiting friends, hanging out at the local skatepark, and enjoying a beach day. Her greatest accomplishment last week was passing her behind the wheel drivings test and getting her official driver’s license!