The Big Little Cheesehead Has Me

…crying like a baby.

6 Responses to “The Big Little Cheesehead Has Me”

1. LC Aggie Sith says:

   September 16, 2010 at 10:05 pm

   OMG!!! That was awesome, and now I’m crying like a baby…sheesh….

2. Dr Alice says:

   September 16, 2010 at 11:52 pm

   Me too… her face when she saw the DVD was so wonderful. Good for the Packers for doing this.

3. Skyler says:

   September 17, 2010 at 12:56 am

   She’s adorable!

   I’m so sorry for the other child who died, and I am so happy that despite that death she was saved.

   Okay, stupid question: How does the new heart grow as she grows? I hope the transplant works for a long long time.

4. John says:

   September 17, 2010 at 6:31 pm

   Skyler, the young heart has long teleomers and the growth hormones from the child’s pitutitary will work on those young cells the way they do on the child’s native cells.

   That being said, the heart may not be programed to finish growing at the right size to fit in her chest cavity, and something might have to be done about that.

   The average graft life for a heart is 10 years, but the average includes some older, sick people. I expect hers to work somewhere in the 10 – 20 year range before a re-transplant might be necessary.

   What is more troublesome is the long-term effect of the immunosuppressants that will be necessary to keep rejection at bay. Eventually those drugs will degrade her kidneys. She’s likely to be very sick if she makes it beyond her 40s.

   As you can guess, I have some experience in transplant as a researcher (but not a doc).

5. Mr. Bingley says:

   September 17, 2010 at 6:37 pm

   John, how the hell are you! Long time no hear 🙂

6. jw says:

   September 17, 2010 at 10:53 pm

   Thanks for the info, John. I have often wondered about some of that.

   Blessings to the donor and his/her family.