We haven’t been great about updating on Shae, and frankly, its because there hasn’t
been much for an update. We have settled into a somewhat normal routine, and Shae has just been living and overall doing very well. We are blessed for that! He has been going to his regular appointments and has even started going on his own. He has a very strong desire to be independent, and I admire and respect that.
There has been some discussion about fixing his chest. As you can imagine having 5 open heart surgeries has created some distortion in his sternum, and we have been in discussions with the transplant team about repairing it. It is not affecting him now but, in the future, it could potentially press on his heart. I believe he would certainly feel better about having it fixed. I went to the initial appointment with him so we could see what the process would entail, he wanted to know before committing to it. The doctor explained that it would require them to open his sternum back up, realign it and cut the chest muscles away from the cartilage. He seemed completely ok with all of that but did have one question for the doctor, would he require chest tubes after the surgery? After every surgery his biggest complaint was the pain from the chest tubes. If you don’t know, the chest tubes are inserted between the ribs and into the chest cavity to prevent fluid buildup. The doctor went on to explain that he would need chest tubes and it
wouldn’t be a big deal. Without skipping a beat Shae asked the doctor, have you ever had them? The doctor paused and said, “Well, no I haven’t.” We had a good laugh over that. We discovered that the tubes would not actually be in the chest cavity but under the muscle tissue. We are coordinating the best time for that procedure, which will be during the fall break or perhaps next summer.
A New Journey–One of Shae’s dreams was to go to college and live on campus. This fall he is enrolled at Grand Canyon University and officially moved in on August 27. I mentioned his desire for independence….. he hasn’t been home since even though it’s 30 minutes from our house. He seems to be embracing college life. He was nervously excited during move in but has adjusted well. I left him with a letter, as I did with all my boys when they went off to college. I told him I was proud of him and there would be a transition period for him being away from home but to embrace it and take advantage of the opportunities that GCU has to strengthen his relationship with Christ.
It’s hard to believe it’s almost been three years since his last transplant, we sometimes talk about those times and wonder how we made it through all of that, seems like a blur really. I know God was walking with us and gave us strength to make it through those days. It certainly strengthened my faith!
We are grateful for the prayers and support over the years! Scott