8:00 a.m.

Ok, so very good news.  Labs came back and all her numbers are PERFECT, both liver and kidney.  So, we think we are dealing with a sinus infection and the flu.  A new round of antibiotics have been started so please pray these work.  Mallory has been sleeping ALOT so hopefully the rest will help her feel better also.  We will just take it easy this weekend and pray she feels better very soon.  Have a good day.  Lisa

8:00 p.m.

Prayers Needed!!  The last few days have not been very good for Mallory.  I am not real sure what is going on.  I ended up calling the liver team late this afternoon.  She is getting headaches, sore throat, her face hurts, her blood pressure is high and she just feels achey all over.  Could be sinuses, the flu or something else, we are just not sure at this point.  Mike took her to a satellite office of Children"s for lab work, the blood was drawn there and sent via courier to Egleston.  I hope to have some results tonight, probably will be very late but I am going to try to get them before I go to bed.  After labs and based on how she continues to feel we may head to the ER or clinic in the morning. Right now she is sleeping.   Please pray that this is a minor issue and that she will feel better VERY soon.  Thanks, you all are great.  Lisa

10:45 a.m.  I will start out by saying ROLL TIDE, what a sweet sweet victory!!!

Mallory is doing very good these days.  I have a lot to update so this might be a little on the long side.  First of all, Mallory went to Egleston on Wedndesday to the pain managmenet clinic for her recurring shoulder pain.  Dr. Veneable was the doctor we met with and she was great, we really like her.  Bascially, it looks like Mallory has some "bands" of muscle/nerves that are probably causing all this pain.  So, the doctor gave her three shots, directly into the "bands" (knots), the shot was a combination of steroids/local anesthesia.  Mallory did get a little light headed as she always does with local anesthesia.  However, her shoulder is much better, we will basically wait and see how long the injection last before we decide when/if she will need more.  She will also start physical therapy on Tuesday, the plan is for the therapist to help her with some exercises, deep massaging and maybe some kind of electric therapy.  Please pray all this will work and her shoulder will continue to feel better.  Her lab schedule has been changed to every 2 weeks so labs will be done again on October 6th.  Her classes are going very good, she made a 95 on her math test and a 93 on her physcology test, great way to start the semester out!!  She continues to enjoy her art teaching job too.  Mallory has started making some very pretty necklaces out of beads, they are sooo pretty, I believe she has sold about 20-25 of them already.  She enjoys doing this and it is a way for her to make a little extra cash.  She and I went to Eufaula Friday night for a wedding shower, my neice Morgan will be getting married in November.  We stayed with Mawmaw and Robert and had a very good time.  Of course, we were home in time for the big game last night!!!  Don"t forget Mallory is speaking at the Liver Foundation Walk on Ocotber 11th at Stone Mountain, feel free to join us for the walk and suppor this great cause.  If you would like to register to walk with us or sponsor our team to help us raise money, please scroll down to the post on Saturday, the 20th for more information and the links the links.  Thank you to Molly for your generouse donation, we miss seeing you!!  Oh yeah, my aunt is home and doing much better, thanks for praying for her!!   Please continue to pray for our friend Karen, here is her website if you would like to read more about her story...www.karenarrowood.com  Have a great Sunday and we will update again later this week.  God Bless!  Lisa and family

Hey everyone it"s Mallory! So, this is officially my favorite time of year. The weather feels good, and college football is getting exciting! We are getting ready to see Bama play arkansas, ROLL TIDE ROLL! Jude is wearing his jersey.. it will be his very first alabama football game! His middle name is Bryant..so he"s going to be a bigtime bama dog!! So the main reason for this post is to let everyone know about the liver walk on October 11th at Stone Mountain. I am planning on going there, and possibly being the speaker of the event! We have a fundraising goal to meet as well. Also, i have started a team. Can you guess what it is called? It is TEAM MAL of course! I am going to post a link up here so that you can join team mal. You can come out to the walk to support me, or the ALF. And on the website you can also make donations to help meet my team"s fundraising goal for the american liver foundation!  Thanks for your support!!

Click here to join Team Mal

https://secure3.convio.net/alf/site/TRR/LiverLifeWalk2008/General/284531414?pg=ptype&fr_id=1091

Click here to make a donation to Mallory"s team 

 https://secure3.convio.net/alf/site/Donation2?1283.donation=form1&idb=376283213&df_id=1283&FR_ID=1091&PROXY_ID=1058961&PROXY_TYPE=20&JServSessionIdr001=rrbs432mu1.app305b

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to IZZIE! Happy Birthday to you!

That"s right. Today marks ONE YEAR since I was transplanted. My liver, Izzie, Is doing such a fantastic Job and I have God to thank for that! Also, thank you to the amazing Dr Heffron and Dr Fasola, TODD, Dr Romero and Dr Vos, Rochelle, Jill, and the rest of the Liver Team. And of course thank you to all of my AMAZING nurses. I could sit here and name all of you but I dont have THAT much time! You all know how much you have touched me! Each one of you who has had anything to do with taking care of me has a special place in my heart forever and I thank you so much for caring about me and helping me to get to where I am right now! And of course, I must thank my OUTSTANDING support group. I could not have done this without my family or my friends. A special thanks to my AMAZING PARENTS AND BROTHER. They have kept me fighting! Also the amazing spport from Mawmaw and Robert, My aunt Bridget and Kim and their families My great Grandmother who travels long and far to see me, and the entire rest of my family because you are all so great. And of course thanks to my amazing friends. Anyone of you who took the time to visit me or spare an encouraging word, i love you all and simply cannot take the time to list everyone of you. And Also thanks to the amazing people I met along the way!

Now that my speech for winning an academy award is over.. haha! So can you believe that one year ago today i was wide open on an operating table, and Dr heffron was taking one organ out of me and putting in a brand new one? That is still so cool to me! I am so excited to celebrate this big day. It is a very happy celebration full of reminders that I have made it! With several odds against me, I fought to the death (almost) and came out a healthy happy young lady. No remorse is felt today, only pride. I am so delighted to know that i have made it to the one year mark, and things will only get better from here!! So thanks everyone for all of your support and prayers. Keep them going, and I will keep going too.

With Much love and grattitude, Mallory Elaine Smith and Izzie

8:30 p.m.  Here is another update....wow 4 updates in 5 days!!  Mallory is doing very good!!  We just got her lab results and her numbers look great!!  Her kidney numbers went down again and are now only very slightly elevated so we are doing the happy dance!!!!  Thanks for the prayers, keep them going!!!  Lisa

5:00 p.m    Special Prayer Request......My cousin just called me and her nephew was involved in a very a bad accident this past Thursday.  He is a student at UGA and was riding his bicycle to work and was hit by an SUV.  He is in the ICU at a hospital in Athens and is literally holding on by a thread.  PLEASE pray for this young man, his name is Brandon.  Thank you so much.  Lisa

Be sure to scroll down and read the post Mallory left yesterday

Today Mallory is turning 20 and is wise beyond her years!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS!!!!!

WOW!!!  What a difference a year makes.  A year ago today was Mallory’s 19^th birthday and she was literally knocking on deaths door. Her nurses threw her a party at midnight, then on the night of her birthday we had another party for her, she was so sick.  That is one birthday none of us will ever forget, she was so sick she did not even open her presents!    She was green, her eyes were yellow, she wasn’t eating, wasn’t getting out of the bed and was FIGHTING!!  We were sitting by her bed, pacing the floor, asking a million questions and PRAYING!!!  I have had to sit back many times and feel so helpless, so wanting to take her place, praying and begging God not to take her.    Mallory has been through so much the last two years of her life she has endured more than most people experience in their entire life.  Having walked this journey with her has truly changed my outlook on life.  The things we all take for granted, the things we all think really matter, the people we forget to show our love for.  Mallory has shown everyone the amount of strength she has, I am still just amazed at how well she has handled all this.  She is so strong and I am so very proud of her, she is truly a pillar of strength.  Don’t get me wrong, she does get frustrated at times however she always bounces back and comes out on top.  I know God has helped her as well as the rest of our family get through this, he has been there with us every step of the way.  Mallory has touched so many lives, her story has helped people decide to be organ donors, something we need more of to help save lives.  I have had so many people tell me how amazed they are with the strength our family has had throughout this entire journey.  Honestly, I am not quite sure how we all did it, but with God’s strength we did.  We have always been a very close family and I am not sure if it is possible that this brought us closer together but maybe it did.  I have gone back and read the journal since the beginning a few times and with each entry I can remember exactly how I felt, I can remember being so scared at times and so happy at other times.  I have also been angry at times, I know we should never question God but when you are sitting by your child’s bed wondering if they are going to make it through the next day or even the next hour sometimes it is hard to not say “WHY”?  I know God choose Mallory for a reason although I am not really sure I know the reason.  Maybe he has some big plans for her, maybe he knew she could handle this with amazing strength and that she would touch many lives with her story.   I can honestly say I am probably the proudest mom on this planet, I am so blessed to have two wonderful kids and the best husband ever.  Michael and Mallory, I love you both so much and am absolutely so very proud of both of you.  I would like to thank each of you for all your concern and prayers, they have truly made a big difference and we love all of you!!  Be sure to leave Mallory a birthday message.  Take care, have a great weekend and God Bless!!!!

Wow. This time last year I was green. I was looking forward to my birthday, hoping that my birthday present would be a new liver. I was dying. I had a few days left in me, and thats it. I was so close to death, that I was at peace. I didn"t know if I would make it to my nineteenth birthday. But God knew. Oh Thank God that He did. Wow.

I was just here getting ready for school, and I thought of that.  It scares me. But it makes me so proud to see how far i have come in a mere year.

10:30 p.m.

Great news.....labs were great today!!!  Mallory"s liver numbers are perfect and her kidney numbers went down slightly!!!  Please keep those prayers going as they are working!!!!  College is still going well and so is the job.  Please continue to pray for a few folks for us......Bonnie, Ashley, Karen, Caden, Valerie and Drew.  We all know God answers our prayers and we so appreciate all the ones going up on our behalf.  Thanks for checking on Mallory and don"t forget to leave a note, we would love to know what is going on with each of you!!!  Take care and Good night.  Lisa

7:30 p.m.

This might be a long update but I will keep it as short as I can.  First of all, Mallory had labs done on Monday and everything looked very good, her liver numbers are perfect and her kidney numbers are slightly elevated but continue to remain stable.  My mom, Robert and my wonderful Mamaw came up last night from Alabama, my Aunt Bonnie is still in the ICU so they wanted to come see about her.  They spent the night with us last night and we enjoyed having them, you see my grandmother is just the best ever, and Mallory insisted that she take her bed for the night, which was so sweet and made Mamaw Roberts so happy.  They got up this morning and after they went by to see my Aunty they headed south.  We had an appointment with the Endocrinologist today at Emory, after the appointment we went to the lab for some bloodwork.  To keep a long story short here is what we know......Mallory"s adrenal glands are not working properly however she is already taking a kind of large dose of prednisone that is replacing the prednisone (cortisol) that her glands are not producing.  So, basically this is probably not the related to her kidney sypmtoms.  Mallory"s blood pressure has been VERY low for several weeks so the doctor suggested a new med that should basically regulate her blood pressure.  Later this afternoon I spoke to Todd (liver team) and told him about our appointment and the new medicine, he approved her taking the medicine and to quote him,"this just might work"!!  We will give the medicine a month or so to work and depending on whether it works or not we will go from there.  Now, we are going to stay positive that this medicine will be Mallory"s miracle drug and continue to pray about it.  We believe the next step would be going for a kidney transplant evaluation, but we will cross that bridge when/if we come to it.  Mallory has had a good week this week and is very stable right now.  Thanks for the continued prayers and don"t forget to sign the guestbook, we love getting your notes.  Labs again on Monday and clinic probably in about a month unless we feel she needs to go before then.  God Bless!!  Lisa

10:25 p.m.

ROLL TIDE!!!  Yesterday was such a wonderful day for us.  We had a private meeting at 9:30 a.m. at the Omni Hotel with Coach Saban.  I was so scared we would be late so we headed out very early, arriving around 8:00!! Coach Saban was so so nice, very laid back and down to earth, he signed some items we had brought down with us and also signed an Alabama program, picture of him and a football for Mallory!!  We took some pictures of the meeting and will post them soon.  We did get to meet a few players also.  College Game Day was in Atlanta yesterday also.  We did walk around for a bit then decided to head home and get some rest.  We headed back down and arrived around 5:00, did some more walking around then made our way to the Dome.  We were guests in one of the suites and let me tell you it was so nice.  The view, the seats, the food spread and just the whole set up was incredible, this is the way to watch football!!!  We have quite a few people to thank for this wonderful day....I certainly do not want to leave anyone out, but a huge thank you to Shelton at CHOA, Gary and Patty with the Chickfial Bowl, and CC and Coach Saban at the University of Alabama.  We had a GREAT time, we did leave just before the 4th quarter, Mallory was just exhausted and we needed to get her home and to bed.  For the last couple of days the itching has returned.  It is not as bad as it was during that one episode where she was hopsitalized but it is bad.  She is taking atarex which does help but also makes her very sleeping.  She has been very tired and sleepy today and rested alot.  Tomorrow she will have labs, please pray for good numbers.  Hope you all have a happy and safe memorial day!!  Lisa

9:50 p.m.

Happy Friday everyone!  This has been a good week for Mallory, her second week as a college student which is going great!!  We were able to get an appointment with the Endocronologist for next Thursday so we hope to know much more after the appointment.  Tomorrow is a big day for us, we will be having a private meeting with Coach Saban and then tomorrow night we will be heading to the GA Dome for the big game between Alabama and Clemson, and to say we are excited is an understatement!!!  ROLL TIDE!!!!  On another note, I would like to ask for all of you to say a prayer for my aunt, her name is Bonnie and she is in the ICU and needs our prayers.  After a rough night last night and a trip to the ER it was discovered that she has a brain anerism (sp?) and did have surgery today.  She is stable but is certainly not out of the woods yet.  Please say some prayers for her and her family!  We love you Bonnie and are praying for you!  We will see you soon.  Well, I will go for now, we have a big day tomorrow.  I will update again soon with some pictures from tomorrow.

Hey its Mallory. So yesterday We spoke with Todd, and they had called the endocrinologist. They made an appointment for me on September 30th, but Todd said it is urgent and we are trying to get a sooner appointment. This week has been good for me. School is still going great for me and I am enjoying it! Today I went and got my math book. 102 dollars. for a MATH BOOK. I was pretty upset when i found out how much this one book was costing me, and its a paperback spiralbound book. It better have the winning lottery numbers in there! well, i guess the are somewhere, im sure theres alot of numbers in a math book. But anyways, today was my first day of work. I was an assistant today. I really enjoyed it, and next week i will begin teaching my own classes. It is so great. Today I went to get a girl who accidently went to ASP instead of Young Rembrandts. So i found her, and she was sad to leave ASP and I asked her if she forgot that today was her art class and she replied that she didnt want to go. So i told her well i bet when you get there youll have so much fun and you will be glad you came! So during the class i noticed her smiling some and i walker around and her picture was really great. I asked her if she was glad that she decided to come, and she lit up with a smile and said THIS IS SO FUN! I was so happy to make that little girl happy by doing art! So needless to say class was great.

Well Thats about all.......!

Mallory

9:15 p.m

Mallory had labs today, everything looked good, her liver numbers continue to be perfect.  Kidney numbers are still slightly elevated but lower than last week.  The ultrasound turned out good and it appears that she has passed the kidney stone.  The adrenal test came back and it showed that her adrenal glands are not working properly.  Dr. Romero is consulting with an endocrinologist and should be calling me tomorrow with a plan, which we hope will be as simple as a medication.  Mallory started her second week of college today and it is going well.  She just said to me that she is so happy to have made it to the starting line!!!  Her first day on the new job is Wednesday and she is looking forward to it.  Please pray for a few of our friends, Ashley who just had a kidney transplant last week, her website is www.cotaforashleyed.com and click on journal to read the story about this amazing little girl.  Also, please pray for Karen who is currently in the hospital and needs another miracle, www.karenarrowood.com to read her story, click on Karen"s blog for updates.  Also, continue to pray for Drew who is in need of a kidney transplant.  I will update more as soon as I hear the plan.  Thanks for checking on Mallory and God Bless!!  Lisa

9:20 p.m.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.  Not much to report tonight.  Mallory had a good weekend and seems to be feeling pretty good.  She did have the ultrasound and the adrenal test done on Friday, we are hopeful that we will have the results tomorrow.  She will also have labs done tomorrow.  Her first week at college went very good and she will start her new job on Wednesday.  Please pray for our friend Karen, she had a heart doulbe lung transplant last January and now needs a liver and kidney, she is in the hospital and needs PRAYERS!!  Thanks for checking in and I will do another update as soon as I have some results.  Lisa

Happy Birthday to my Daddy!! The best dad in the world! i love you DADDY!!!

9:00 p.m.

Well, I said we would do an update tonight but we are so confused about what is going on that I am not even sure what to report.  First of all the pain in her lower right abdomen is still pretty severe and we are not sure why, the ultrasound was fine but they only focused on a very small area.  Today we went to the kidney doctor, Dr. Greenbaum, then over to Egleston to liver clinic.  We had many questions and concerns for Dr. G, after meeting with him for a long time he is not sure exactly what we are dealing with at this point.  So, he called and talked to Dr. Romero and it has been decided that Mallory needs more tests done.  On Friday we will go to Egleston and Mallory will have a full abdominal ultrasound as well as on both her kidneys.  She will also have a test to check her adrenal glands, this is done by giving her a shot then doing some special labs after a period of time, the same day, but not sure how long between the shot and the labs. Something is definitely going on related to her kidneys, we hope to have a diagnosis and treatment plan very soon.  Please pray for everything to go well on Friday for Mallory.  Thanks so much for checking on her and God Bless.  Lisa

9:00 p.m.

Okay, so we are at home!! We went to the hospital today and Mallory was given 2 liters of IV fluids.  She was having some severe right abdominal pain so they did an xray and an ultrasound, we should get the results tomorrow.  We have an appointment with the kidney doctor at 2 tomorrow then we will go to liver clinic.  I will update again tomororw night, thanks for all the prayers and notes!  Oh yeah and today was her second day of classes and everything went well!  Lisa

8:25 p.m.

Well, today was a big day for Mallory, her first class at KSU.  Everything went well, she did have a hard time finding a parking spot and was a few minutes late for class (and in her words, was freaking out) but otherwise all was good, tomorrow she will have two classes.  Yesterday Rachel picked up Mallory and they spent the afternoon at the High Museum of Art, they had a great time and she got a really cool poster for her "tv" room.  Another bit of good news that I can share with everyone is that we are lucky enough to be able to attend the Alabama/Clemson game which is the season opener to be here in Atlanta at the dome.  We are also having a private meeting with Coach Saban, we are very excited about the game and the meeting, the date is August 30th.  I will be sure to post all the details afterwards and post some pictures.  I will expalin later the details of how this all came to be.  On another note, Mallory had labs today, eveything looks great except for her kidney numbers, which are up significantly since last week.  We received a call from the liver team today and they are wanting to give Mallory some fluids.  They wanted us to come in tomorrow morning so they can give her some IV fluids, she does have two classes tomorrow so we will plan to go to Egleston afterwards.  The plan is to give her the fluids and hopefully be able to come home  in the evening without needing to spend the night.  She has been doing a great job getting her fluids in but her kidneys are just not cooperating. I will post another update tomorrow night, hopefully from home.  Please continue to keep Mallory in your prayers and thanks so much for all the kind notes.  Lisa

Hi everyone, its Mallory. Tonight me and my mom went out to dinner with heather and hannah, two of the nurses who take great care of me when ive been at egleston! We had a great time, and even got the restaurant to sing to heather since her birthday was a few days ago. I love you guys! So this week i have had training for my job and it went well. Today i took Jude to get his second puppy shots and he was such a sweet puppy! He weighs 3 pounds now! Also, Michael gave us some great news today. He took his EMT test today and passed it! He studied really hard and put alot of time into this test so we are so proud of him for passing it!! Yay! Yesterday we went to clinic. Overall things are going good, but with just a few mall things going on. One of them is i have a few blisters in and around my mouth, one really yucky fever blister right above my mouth and it hurts. Also we got some atarax which is for itching. it works okay, but better than nothing! ive been itching lately and its so irritating! So school starts on monday and i am really nervous! ill just have to pray and it will all be okay! So thanks for checking in on me and leave a little note, i love to read them!

Just a few names of people to pray for: valerie, kaden, chris, and drew. Thank you, your prayer is the most powerfull thhingg!

9:10 p.m.

Well, I guess you all figured out that no update for a few days means things are going well.  Mallory has been feeling pretty good the last few days, the weekend was not great but she seems to be feeling better, there are a few small isuses but we are going to clinic tomorrow and will talk to the docs then.  She had labs yesterday and other than the fact that one of her kidney numbers was too high, which we expected, everything else looks very good.  Mallory went to her first training for the new job today and will go back tomorrow.  Tonight she practiced with Mike and me, we were 8 year old art students, we were both able to draw a decent looking picture with Mallory"s instructions!!  She will start the new job on 8/25 and next Monday the 18th she starts classes at KSU, I think she is excited and nervous.  Please pray that she will be able to enjoy KSU and this new job!!  Mawmaw and Robert came up Sunday and spent a few days with us, we enjoyed having them and are thankful that they had a safe trip back to Alabama.  Jude is doing great and has grown a little since she got him, he is just so cute and a great addition to the Smith family!!  Please also continue to pray for Valerie, Kaden, Drew and their families, they are all going through difficult times right now and need some prayers.  Thanks for checking on Mallory and remember to leave her a note.  Lisa

8:30 p.m.

This has been a pretty good week for Mallory.  The pain medicine that was prescribed for the shoulder pain is working great, the other good news is that she is only needing to take 2-3 pills each day!!  Mallory now has something going on with her mouth, she says it feels like she burnt her mouth.  It hurts when she eats, drinks and talks.  I am not real sure what is causing this but it could just be a combination of the medicines.  She is having problems swallowing also.  We will discuss this at clinic on Wednesday or call before then if it gets worse.  Please pray that this gets better very soon.  Some good news is that Mallory has gotten a job!!  She answered an ad in the KSU newspaper and had her interview today, she will probably work 3 days a week for a couple of hours.  The job will be at a local elementary school and she will be teaching art to the kids.  Mallory loves arts and crafts so she is very excited about this job!  Please pray for a young man named Drew, he will be listed for a kidney transplant soon and needs prayers!  Drew, in case you read this, hang in there God will take care of you and get you through this!  Well, have a great weekend and God Bless!

Hey, it"s Mallory. Great news I am home! Dr Heffron prescribed me some oxycodone and methadone and so my shoulder pain is so much better! Today my labs were sogreat even the kidney numbers! When i got home today, Jude went absolutely insane!! I had never seen a puppy get so excited EVER! He didnt calm down for about an hour..he was climbing all over me nd crying and licking my face he was so cute! Also we came home to find that he had learned to go down the stairs! So cute! Oh today i looked down at my hand and my IV was blown! my hand got soo swollen it was HUGE and fluid waas leaking out of my vein all through my hand! But its getting better now. Well, just letting everyone know im home, will update more later. PS please pray for my friend Valerie, and another new friend and recent liver recipient, Kaden, a cute little boy.

Thanks so much, Mal

8:00 p.m

Dr. Heffron and Todd decided earlier today to make some changes to the pain meds.  The IV morphine was stopped, Mallory is now taking methodone every 12 hours as a maintenance type pain med and is also getting oxycodone as needed.  The new pain meds appear to be working so Mallory should be able to go home tomorrow.  All in all the day has been pretty good.  Thanks for checking on us and have a good evening.  Lisa

11:30 a.m.

Just wanted to give a quick update.  We did end up coming down to Egleston last night, arrived at the ER around 11:45, she had an xray and labs, all look good.  She has been getting morphine every four hours which seems to be helping.  The pain might be related to the kidney stone.  Dr. Heffron just stopped by, he and Todd will talk then he will come by and let us know the plan.  We have asked if they can give us a stronger pain med to have at home.  I will update again tonight.  Thanks for stopping in.  Lisa

8:55 p.m.

Prayers needed....Mallory is having very bad shoulder pain, we are going to try to make it through the night and if it is not better by tomorrow morning we are heading to Egleston to the ER.  Please say a special prayer for this pain to go away.  Thanks and God Bless!  Lisa

10:45 p.m

Well, it has been a good week for Mallory.  On Tuesday we did go down to Egleston for Mallory to have her interview with Vern from Deserving Designs, we had a great time.  We are not sure when this will air but as soon as we know we will post it here.  Yesterday Mallory went to get a haircut and highlights, she went much shorter and it looks GREAT!!  The cut is just adorable and I must say it makes her look a little older and healthier!!  The highlights are just the right amount, I will post a few pictures soon.  Jude is doing great and is adjusting well to his new home, Munchkin is still not too sure she likes having him around.  Mallory is having some pretty bad shoulder pain, we are treating it at home and praying it will go away soon.  This is something she has dealt with since her first transplant and it seems to come and go.  Please say a prayer for her to be pain free again very soon.  I think that is about it for the week, labs again on Monday.  Check back soon for pictures and don"t forget to leave a note for Mallory.  Have a good weekend.  Lisa and family

9:15 p.m.

So, this is the 3rd update today so be sure to read the two below!  Mallory and me were honored to be a part of a get together today at the Georgia Aquarium in memory of Alex.  In attendance were some of the doctors and nurses that helped to take care of Alex at Egleston as well as other members of the staff at Egleston and a few friends and family members.  We all came together to remember his life and it truly was beautfiul.  Many people told stories about Alex and shared some great memories, the afternoon ended with a letter to Alex written by his mom and read today by Steven Wagner and I must say he did a great job!!  Alex"s mom was unable to attend as she lives in Canada.  Something we have not mentioned on our post yet as I was waiting for the right time which I think might be now, Alex"s dad, Tom, passed away last Sunday, July 13th.  Please say some special prayers for the entire Rampenthal family as they mourn yet another loss of a family member.   If you would like to read a story about today and watch the footage that aired tonight on the local news, click on the link below.  If you look in the upper right hand side of the page you will see a link to the video, I must warn you....have a kleenex near by!  It is only a couple of minutes long but is so touching, and Mallory is included in this video.  Well, have a good night and thanks so much for continuing to check on Mallory and leaving notes for her.

http://www.11alive.com/rss/rss_story.aspx?storyid=118876

See update below for biopsy results....

I forgot to mention, that if you will click on the small picture of Jude, you will be driected to about 6 more pictures of him  He is sooooo cute and is also just as sweet!!!  And, he LOVES Mallory!

9:45 a.m

9:40 p.m.

So, today has been a good day, Mallory has been taking care of Jude and I must admit he is just absolutely so adorable.  Unfortunately we do not have any biopsy results yet, I guess we will find out next week.  On Monday, Mallory and I will be attending a luncheon at the Georgia Aquarium in honor of Alex, we are looking forward to being a part of this event.  Well, have a good weekend and we will post again in a few days.  New pictures coming soon.  Lisa

8:15 p.m.

Two years ago.......Doug arrived!!!!! 

Wow...how time flies!!  It was two years ago today that Mallory received her first liver "Doug"!!  We are so thankful that a family made the decision to donate their loved ones organs.  Mallory was deathly ill and had this family not made this huge decision our sweet Mallory might not be here today, so Thank You to our donor family whoever you are.  If you are not an organ donor now would be a great time to reconsider, you could save so many lives!!    We have not gotten the biopsy report back yet, hopefully we will have them tomorrow.  Mallory is feeling pretty good today and we went to pick up Jude, he is absolutely adorable!!!!!  We will post some new pictures this weekend and try to get some video from the ribbon cutting on here also.  Thanks so much for all your support and prayers!!!  Lisa

8:45 p.m.

So, we ARE home!!!  We do not have any results from the biopsy yet, we will probably get them either tomorrow or Friday.  Mallory is doing pretty good, she is kind of tired and still having some pain but it is getting better.  Thanks for checking on Mallory and for contiunuing to keep her in your prayers.  We will post another update as soon as we get the biopsy results.  Good night.  Lisa

10:00 p.m.

So, the biopsy went well, Mallory has been sleeping off and on today and dealing with some pain, which is being managed by IV pain meds.  We should have the results no later than Thursday and will post another update as soon as we know more.  If all goes well, which it will, we will go home tomorrow. She has also been playing Guitar Hero on one of the new Nintendo DS units provided by GB employees.  Mallory is eager to pick up Jude, so the plan is to get him in the next couple of days, once we get him home we will post some new pictures.  Well, Mallory is sleeping so I think I will try to get some rest as well. Oh yeah, great news.....Valerie was discharged today, she will stay at the Ronald McDonald house for a while but she is out of here!!!  I think I forgot to mention in the post that yesterday at the ribbon cutting, can you just guess who cut the ribbon?  Well, Mallory did....Gene Hayes insisted on it being her!!  There was so much to post last night I forgot that important part of the day!!  Well, good night and God Bless!  Lisa

8:00 p.m.

This is gonna be a long update!  First of all, Mallory had labs today and her numbers were GREAT, yes GREAT!!!  Tomorrow is the biopsy, we will update as we find out anything.  So, today we went to the official ribbon cutting for the Georgian Bank Transplant Recovery Unit, we had so much fun and was honored to be a part of this event.  Several folks talked including the new CEO Donna, Dr. Heffron and Dr. Romero, Gene Hayes President of the Foundation, Gordon Teel President of GB and Mallory!!!  We caught it all on video and will post here soon.  Mallory did a GREAT job and we are so proud of her.  Gene Hayes presented Mallory with a beautiful butterfly bracelet and he gave Mallory and me a very special "Hope and Will" necklace, which has a story behind it.  You see in December of 2006 we were at the Festvial of Trees black tie event and met Gene Hayes.  Mallory commented to Gene that she liked his cuff links, which were "Hope and Will", (the mascots of Children"s Healthcare of Atlanta).  We ran into Gene a few months back while inpatient and he remembered Mallory commenting on his cuff links and that has really sutck in his mind.  So, today at the ribbon cutting he presented the two of us each with our very own "Hope and Will" necklace that he had made from his cuff links!!  Gene is a wonderful man and we will forever cherish these necklaces!!!

Okay hey, this is Mallory! I just wanted to give you all an update on the pup! We went on saturday to meet him, and i immediately Fell in LOVE! The craziest thing is tis. His birthday. MAY SEVENTEENTH!!!! wow! 17! That was also Rocky"s birthhday. So this week i went and got him some food and toys and a collar, and I think i can go pick him up sometime between Thursday and Saturday (Thursday sounds better to me.) But i Guess Now i can publicly  announce his full name. Ahem, ladies and gentlemen. It is my honor to introduce "Jude Bryant Smith."

http://photos-312.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v300/143/34/1124460312/n1124460312_30704190_7502.jpg

Well, Thanks for checking in,

Mallory (and Jude), and company!

1:20 p.m.

So, things seem to be going good!  Mallory has been feeling good these days.  She will have a kidney biopsy done on Tuesday morning, I am not sure how long it takes to get the results but we will update as soon as we know something.  She will have labs done tomorrow and we are going to Egleston in the afternoon for the official ribbon cutting of the new Georgian Bank Transplant Recovery Unit!!  This is such an exciting event and we are honored to be a part of it!!  Well, it is a rainy day here in Kennesaw and we are just hanging out and relaxing!  Hope you enjoy your day and God Bless!!  Lisa

Hey everyone, Mallory updating here.

So everything has been going really well and I"ll have my biopsy on tuesday. Yesterday I went shopping with Chloe and we met Rachel at Starbucks. Today I did a little more shopping. I also started learning a new song on the guitar, and i set up an appointment to go meet some puppies! Hopefully it will be meant to be and i will find the perfect puppy! Oh by the way, the song i am working on is "for my puppy" and once i get him and tell you his name you"ll know what song im talking about, and will understand =)

Well anyways, Thats about it. I"ll update everyone later!

Mallory

10:00 p.m.

Good news, labs looked great today.  Kidney numbers are normal!!  Liver numbers are still slightly high but are headed in the right direction.  Thanks Alyssa for spending the afternoon with Mallory, it is always so nice to see you.  I spoke to Valerie"s mom today and she told me that she is doing great!  Thanks for checking in and for leaving a note for Mallory.  Good night and God Bless.  Lisa

10:15 p.m

Hello everyone, hope you had a nice weekend.  Mallory seems to be feeling pretty good, she will have labs again tomorrow so we will post an update as soon as we have some results.  The weekend has been kinda quiet around here and as with all weekends we hate to see it end.  Thanks for checking on Mallory and for continuing to pray for her and the rest of our family.  Lisa

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!  CELEBRATE YOUR INDEPENDENCE!!!!

When I wrote the update last night I falied to say Thank You to Jamie, so Thank you Jamie!!!!  Jamie Christensen the former field goal kicker for Alabama has kept up with Mallory and her progress, calls her from time to time and has visited her also, so has his wonderful parents!!!  Mallory recieved a delivery from him yesterday, it was a collectors plate, that says "Play Ball" with a miniature schnauzer on it and is so cute, she loves it!!  In case you do not know Munchkin our cute little doggie, is a miniature schnauzer, I am sure Mallory will treasure this gift forever!!!! So, again Thanks Jamie.  Lisa

11:00 p.m.

Mallorys labs today were good, her liver numbers did go up alittle but not drastically and her kidney numbers are pretty much stable.  She and I did get out and about a little while today, we both needed some new makeup so we visited the Clinique counter at Macy"s.  Tonight Mike and I decided to go out and watch the fireworks in Kennesaw, we parked at the Burger King on Hwy 41 close to downtown and we had a great laugh.  I won"t go into all the details but.......a lady had her dog right outside the door of BK, it pooped on the sidewalk twice and a worker stepped in it twice and never even knew it, it was absolutely hysterical!!  Oh yeah, and we hear Valerie is moving from the ICU to the floor, Great news!!!  Good night and Happy 4th!  The Smiths

9:00 p.m.

We are home and so happy to be here!!!  Labs tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. and many medicine changes.  I refilled Mallory"s medicine containers for the week, she is taking more than when she was admitted on the 22nd, back up to 17 pills a day.  Geez, theres that number again, 17!  I will take that as a good sign!  Okay, I am tired so I will update more tomorrow night. Please keep those prayers going for our sweet girl and for Valerie as well!!  Lisa

9:30 p.m.

So, labs today were pretty much stable, kidney numbers down and liver numbers up, however only slightly so in my book that is stable and we will certainly take stable.  Mallory has felt okay today, not wonderful but not terrible either.  As far as her medicines, she is weaning herself off the IV pain meds and trying to take everything orally, which seems to be working.  I spoke to the kidney doctor today, the plan is that Mallory will continue to drink 3 liters of fluid each day and labs will be checked twice a week.  As far as the increased calcium in the left kidney and the stone in the right kidney, the doctors are not overly concerned about this so we will "wait and see".  I was also told that more than likely sometime during the month of July a biopsy will be done of her kidneys, please pray the results come in with good news.  We were bored today so we decided to explore the hospital and we some how ended up in places that we were not authorized to be in and ended our tour with a ride on the staff elevators, however we were not accompanied by a staff member.  It was fun!!!!  Tonight Mike came down and we were bored again so off to the gift shop, they FINALLY got in some new hospital tshirts so we of course had to have one!!  Mallory found a ring that she fell in love with so she decided to sweet talk her dad in to getting it for her and of course it worked!!  Dr. Heffron said we could probably go home tomorrow, pray for good labs in the morning.  Thanks to Ellie and John for visiting yesterday and for the beautiful flowers.  Good night.  Lisa

10:10 p.m.

Okay, so the results on the xray were good, no pnuematosis and everything looked normal.  Mallory"s labs today were pretty much the same as yesterday, a few little changes but for the most part they were stable.  Today has been better than yesterday, Mallory seems to be feeling better.  She did end up getting another IV placed yesterday so she could get her IV pain meds, it took 4 sticks to get a vein, and Mallory handled it very well.  She is still not getting IV fluids and is working on getting her three liters of fluid in.  The kidney doctor has still NOT stopped by but we are told he should be here tomorrow, if not I am afraid I might need to "hunt him down", which we all know I am quit capable of doing!  During rounds this morning Dr. Heffron said we would see how the next day or so goes then hopefully get to go home, maybe as early as tomorrow.  Thanks for checking on us and have a good night.  Lisa

Happy Birthday Michael!! My brother, and best friend in the whoolleeee world, turns 23 today!

So yesterday Valerie had her surgery, and we heard it went very well. I ran into her mom today when i wass at the library getting the hot chick and bill and teds excellent adventure. She said Valerie was already waking up some! That is really good. As for me, I have not been feeling good today.. Ive been hurting alot. Unfortunately my iv had to be taken out this morning, It started bleeding and my hand got really swollen. So ive been trying to get by on oral pain meds but it isnt really doing the trick, i feel that ill be begging for a new iv before the night comes.. that iis if a vein becomes available.  Because Ive been having the pain we called Todd and he ordered a KUB (abdominal x ray) . We havent gotten an official report yet but from looking at it is very characteristic of the xray i had a few weeks ago when i had the pneumatosis, so we woudnt be suprised if it were back.

Later today my dad an my brother are coming down here for michaels birthday celebration. Can you believe it? We spent my dad, mom, and my birthday here last year, and now were spending michaels. Talk about irony! Well there will be more news once we hear the reading of the xray, and so on.

Happy Birthday Michael, Happy Late Birthday Kim, and Happy Late Birthday Rachel!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SISTER, KIM!!  WE LOVE YOU