Great news in Chicago!!!

Yea! Yippee! Yahooooooo! What more can I say?!?! Shelby had great visits with all her doctors in Chicago. On Monday we had labs drawn here in Rockford. That was a treat - not really. I did, for the first time, have to chase her down the hall (man can she run fast) when they called her name, and she did fight hard (through 2 pokes), but was all smiles when it was done. Her liver labs look great. For those other liver families out there her ALT and AST have risen, but her doctors don't care. Everything else looks great and she is growing, growing, growing and feeling very energetic. She has gained 6 lbs. and grown 4 in. since last June! Wow! The cardiologist didn't see any problems and said she didn't need to see her for 2 years unless her liver takes a turn for the worse and....drum roll please.....the Top Dog, Dr. Whitington, said that she didn't need to be seen for another YEAR! Did I type that right? Yes, a YEAR!!!! He projected that at the rate she is going she wouldn't need a transplant until she was 8 - 10 years old. Now, he can be wrong either way. She could need a new liver next year or when she's 20, but that was his guestimate (which they hesistate to give). He said her liver is actually the size of an average 4-year-old, but with cirrhosis. Her spleen is still huge, though. He also took her off 2 meds and, after some labs next week, she might come off 2 more. We're down to giving her meds 3 times a day instead of 6! Can you tell I'm excited? Wow!

We stayed overnight at the Kohl's House and took the girls to Oz park to play. The next morning we visited with Natalie's parents and then headed to see the urologist. After getting very, very lost despite having directions we made it to Westchester. We'll be seeing the urologist again in a few weeks, but nothing too big is going on there. They did do an abdominal x-ray and Shelby was such a big girl. She climbed up on the x-ray table all by herself and laid there very still - cool! As a treat for both girls being so good for 2 days of doctors' appointments we took them to the Brookfield Zoo. Lots of fun was had there and I'm kicking myself for leaving my camera in the van in the parking lot way, way, way from the zoo's entrance! We made it home safely around 9 or so last night.

Please continue to check on us here even though things are quiet on the medical front. Also please continue to pray for Natalie and Annika as they both have tough roads ahead of them.