Friday (Day 10 with a new heart)

Pretty good day so far today.  She sat-up in the chair for about an hour and a half and walked across the hall to visit her friend Emily and then back to her room.  Yesterday, she walked to Emily's room but on the way back she had to sit in the chair and be rolled back about halfway before getting up and walking the rest of the way.  But today, she walked there and back, stopping only to sit and catch her breath for a few minutes before resuming her walk. Excellent exercise day.
It is obvious that her being in the bed, hooked up to the ventilator for two months, has taken a toll on her muscle tone.  She is really shaky on her feet when she walks and has to have both physical therapists helping her when she walks.  The docs believe she would benefit from going to the gym located on the 6th floor to do some leg-strengthening exercises in addition to the walking.
Speech-therapy continues to work with her to try and strengthen her vocal cords so that she can pass her next swallow study test, scheduled for sometime next week.
Also, next week, probably on Tuesday, she will go down to the cath-lab for her post-transplant biopsy.  The ideal score would be a zero (This could be the first time she is allowed to score a zero on a test), which would mean that there is no rejection, however, most transplant patients experience some level of rejection, at least on their first trip for biopsy.  If there is some "mild" rejection, it can be treated by upping some of the steroids that she has been on.
And finally, we were hoping to be able to see her old heart today but just found out that it will probably be Tuesday before we can actually see it.  It has been in pathology since it was removed.  Can't wait to see the little booger that caused her so many problems.
Overall, she looks great, she is smiling occasionally, talking and seems to be in good spirits.  In addition to making a list of "drinks she wants to drink," she also has decided that she wants to eat, in no particular order, "Cocoa Puffs," (She saw a commercial for this), baked potato with butter and salt, nachos, KFC with mash potatoes and a dinner roll.  It is amazing to hear her say that she is hungry (and this time, we believe her!).
And, we have to say, with everything that has gone on this summer with Rachel, and with school starting back, Camden has been completely awesome.  He started school, went for three days, when we got the call about Rachel's heart, missed three days of school while being down here for his sister, but has managed to get all of his school work done and is making great grades so far.  He is pretty awesome.
Please remember to continue to pray for Noah and Ella as they wait for their new hearts and their respective families.  Also, please remember to pray for family who lost a love one, one whose heart now beats in Rachel, during their time of grief.  Hard to believe that it's been 10 days already.