Handsaker Family Blog: Five Years Post Transplant

Yesterday I woke Georgia up at 5:45am, just in time to get dressed, brush her teeth and head to Seattle. My nerves were getting the better of me but Georgia was delightful as ever, even knowing we were heading for a blood draw.

We hadn't been to the SCCA since her two year post transplant work up but all the sights and smells felt all too familiar. As we sat in the lab waiting area I looked around, remembering all of the times we'd been here before.

When a nurse came to the open door and called, "Handsaker" I could tell she didn't realize how young her next patient was going to be. She was friendly and full of smiles but I obviously put her at ease when I told her why we were here. Once we got settled into a room, she looked at Georgia, tears slightly welling in her eyes and said, "Wow, five years post transplant."

Part of the protocol before drawing blood is to have two people check the information on the lab sheet, our nurse went to find someone to come in. When she came back with another woman she told her why Georgia was here, the woman looked at her and said, I remember her, I remember those eyes.

Georgia was so brave during her blood draw, smiling and talking as the nine vilas of blood were filled. That bravery continued as we went to our next appointment, Pulmonary Function, a first. Georgia has always been too young to have her pulmonary function checked and it made me nervous as she is barely old enough to do it now.

We were again called back and lead to a room where Georgia was asked to blow a birthday horn, trying to give her an idea of what the test she would be doing. She then moved over to a contraption that was hooked up to a computer, the "game" was to blow up the hot air balloon on the screen. She did this several times, a few things were typed then reviewed and the woman conducting the test turned to me and said, I've never had a six year old do this well on a test! Of the three of us, I'm still not sure which one was most proud.

We moved on to our next appointment on the transplant floor of the SCCA. The sights of bald heads and sounds of pumps nearly sent me into a PTSD spiral but then I looked into Georgia's eyes, so bright and full of life and I felt calmer.

We first met with the dietitian, this part use to make my blood boil, filling out food logs with every miniscule bite of food Georgia had eaten and every drop of olive oil I'd syringed in her mouth. Today, I arrived with three pages full of meals eaten, this in itself felt like a victory I wasn't sure I'd ever win. Georgia was weighed and measured, 50th percentile for both, remarkable.

While we were waiting for our next appointment, Georgia and I used the bathroom in the hall, as we were walking back to our room a guy stopped us and said, I didn't take care of her, but I recognize her, then he looked at Georgia and said, there's a picture of you up in the office area!

Last but certainly not least we met with Joan, our PA and Katie, our transplant nurse, these two women have seen Georgia all the way through. Before the appointment got under way Georgia said she wanted to see her picture, Katie brought us back to the clinic offices, a room filled with familiar faces. We saw another nurse, Jen who cared for Georgia at Children's, she was one of the few nurses that Georgia would let hold her when she was a baby.

The post transplant clinic primarily consisted of talking about Georgia and how great she looks, how much she has grown and how active she is. She was asked to bend and flex her joints her specific ways and passed with flying colors. She is doing so well that Joan didn't see a need for her to have a bone age x-ray, music to my ears!

The labs that were back all looked good, the major test results will take a while to come back but we left yesterday feeling happy and healthy, a very good place to be.