Five Years Later....

You know how we all have certain dates that are ingrained into our memories? They often include birthdays, anniversaries and other milestones. September 21, 2006 is one of those dates I will never forget. That was the day that Maya was definitively diagnosed with Biliary Atresia. We had been at Cincinnati Children's for 6 days at that point. She had undergone numerous tests including x-rays, ultrasounds and daily blood draws. The surgeons met with us and told us the only thing they could do now was to open her up and do a test called a choliangiogram.

Open her up?
My two month old daughter?
What?

But the alternative would have meant certain death in a short period of time, so off to surgery she went. The choliangiogram proved she had Biliary Atresia so they performed another procedure called the Kasai. It lasted a good 4 hours, which was about 3 hours more than they initially thought it would last. I was a mess.

But let's fast forward 5 years. I look at Maya today and marvel at what she has become. She has gone through so much in such a short period of time, yet she always has a smile on her face. Five years after being diagnosed with what is often a fatal disease, she is still here. We've gone through a liver transplant and numerous other surgical procedures since her initial diagnosis. There have been times when I wondered if she would make it. Hell, there are times when I wondered if I would make it. But we did it. Or rather, she did it. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe how lucky we are.