not to steal anyone's thunder and that's a great read but....
my (now 4 y/o) daughter was on a heart transplant list, had a very large stroke on ECMO at six months of age) and fought against every odd (pneumonia, sepsis, bowel obstruction, DIC, blood clots, stroke) to survive and ultimately keep her own heart (as weak as it was at the time). Three surgeries later her heart is doing OK. We have ongoing therapies for her stroke and the occasional seizure but she is a beautiful and generally healthy kid. I thank God every day for her and who she is.
Some of you may remember when I 'spilled' a lot of this here a few years ago (2007) but the thread was lost.
reading this story today literally brought tears to my eyes. Obviously, it hits home for me and the parallels are striking. God bless that kid and her family. Bottom line is how peaceful life is when we simply care for folks around us...and when we appreciate what we have.