https://www.facebook.com/469695926223867/

Team Zac, Jefferson, GA (2026)

04/30/2025

6-Month Post-Transplant Update:

Our trip to Nashville was a success! For the first time EVER, Zachary was average for height and weight on the growth chart! God is at work! Zac was diagnosed failure to thrive early on in infancy and his growth was always well below average. Just 6 months after receiving his new liver he is considered average!

Zac’s lab work also looked great. They did have trouble drawing his blood this time, but he was a champ! Because his labs looked stable, he was also able to come off two more meds. Immediately after transplant he was on 12 meds and today he is on 4!

Thank you to everyone for continuing to pray over Zac. There is a song by Crowder called “Because Somebody Prayed” and God has heard each prayer spoken over Zac. What an amazing testimony to share for the rest of his life. We love you all! ❤️

01/24/2025

Our trip to Nashville was a success! The results from Zac’s abdominal ultrasound were normal and his labs looked great! God is so good!

Zac showed everyone his Hotwheels and even got to arm wrestle his liver doctor. I spoke with the pharmacist and she recommended coming off of 3 meds!!! This is such amazing news!! Zac is now down to taking 7 meds and at the six month mark he should be down to 2 (which is what he will take for the rest of his life). We are rejoicing and thanking God for these blessings! Thank you all for the continued prayers and support! ❤️

01/21/2025

We are back in Nashville just 7 days shy of Zac being 3 months post-transplant. The drive up here is beautiful and always reminds me of God’s majesty. We saw lots of huge icicles on the sides of the mountains and even saw some snow (although there is no snow in Nashville).

Tomorrow Zac will have labs, abdominal ultrasound, liver clinic, and behavior therapy. We are so blessed to be staying with our friends at Ronald McDonald House Charities of Nashville. We had a nice supper and have already met some new friends. Prayers that everything looks good tomorrow. 🙏🏼❤️

11/24/2024

We are home!!! We spent 20 nights at the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Nashville and we are so thankful for their hospitality and for the generosity of all the donors for food, toys, snacks, music and games.

I am absolutely amazed at Zac’s recovery. While it has come with its own set of challenges, God has been so faithful. This is going to be such a special Thanksgiving and I am so excited to spend it at HOME with family. ❤️🙏🏼🙌🏼👏🏼🦃

11/22/2024

Just 25 days post-transplant, Zac gets to go home!!!! 👏🏼🎊🙌🏼🎉👏🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 We will be headed home tomorrow!! ❤️❤️❤️

11/19/2024

Day 22 Update:

Sunday was 3 weeks post-transplant!

Positives: Things have been going very well for Zac medically. His labs are looking good, he is sleeping better than he ever has, his incision is beginning to heal, his skin is clear, his eyes are white, and he is growing! He is also doing great taking his meds! The weather has been nice the past few days, so we’ve been able to get outside and take some nice long walks. So many things that we are grateful for!

Challenges: We miss home! Zac has really struggled with his behavior. It’s a culmination of several things, no routine, being stuck inside, being away from home, new feelings and changes in his body. It has been HARD. I try to get out of the room as much as possible (the house has a nice library, living areas, and a fun game room, but as soon as we get settled somewhere he just wants to go back to the room. We’re getting a little stir crazy. I just keep praying through it, having a few breakdowns, and reminding myself that these are small bumps on his road to recovery.

Brandon Lake
“I'll bring my hard-fought heartfelt
Been-through-hell hallelujah
I'll bring my storm-tossed, torn-sail
Story to tell hallelujah
God, You've been patient
God, You've been gracious
Faithful whatever I'm feeling or facing
So I'll bring my hard-fought, heartfelt
It is well hallelujah”

11/09/2024

Day 12 Update:

Today Zac had labs and liver clinic. He did much better for labs today than he did on Tuesday! Yay! Yesterday, Zac was complaining about some pain in his belly. His stomach did look more distended than it had since transplant. The nurse said that it could be a build up of fluid or a possible infection. About 30 minutes after his appointment, the nurse called and said that she wanted him to have an ultrasound just to be safe before the weekend. (This is why they want us to stay close to the hospital for the month after transplant) The ultrasound lasted 40 minutes and Zac did amazing! He just got up on the bed and was still the whole time!

After the Ultrasound, we noticed there was a Vanderbilt Tailgate happening near Seacrest Studios in the hospital. We decided to check it out. Zac got to meet the Vandy mascot, make a cool hero cape, and get some pics with the cheerleaders. It was so cute!

When we got back to RMH, one of Zac’s new friends had a little birthday party. They had chicken tenders from Zaxby’s and cupcakes. It was so nice of the house to host this!

This afternoon I got a call from the nurse saying that Zac’s labs and ultrasound looked good! There was no fluid or infection. She did make changes to one of his meds based on the labs and increased his blood pressure meds. We are hopeful that his recovery will continue to trend in this direction. Continued prayers that we all stay healthy, both mentally and physically. 💚

11/06/2024

Day 10 Update:
We are finding our groove! Yesterday Zac had labs and today he had his first post-transplant liver clinic visit. They said that Zac was looking great, labs looked good, and they were glad the med schedule was going well. The area where his drains were is still pretty leaky, so his dressing has to be changed several times during the day. He does NOT like that at all (who would) and it is making his skin raw from p*eling the tape off so many times. Hopefully I can find a good ointment to help with this tomorrow (suggestions are welcome).

I have found my favorite room in the house. Can you guess what it might be? I’ll give you a couple of hints:
It’s quiet.
There are big, comfy chairs.
There are lots of books.
If you guessed the library… you’re right!!!

Friday, Zac will have labs and liver clinic again. Prayers that his recovery continues moving forward in this direction and prayers that we all stay healthy.

Last, I wanted to share a special Bible verse with you. This was posted on the Bible App the day Zac had his transplant:
“I am certain that God who began the good work within you will continue His work until it is finally finished.” Philippians 1:6

11/03/2024

Days 6 & 7 Update:

It has been a WHIRLWIND!! Zac was released from the hospital yesterday!!! It is bittersweet. There is so much that goes in to post-transplant care (especially the medications!). But it is such a wonderful blessing!

We were able to secure a room at the Ronald McDonald House, which is a block from the hospital. The house is very nice and has so many accommodations. Zac’s favorite room is the play room, which has lots of fun toys.

Today we did a few pick-up orders, because silly mommy forgot to pack enough clothes and pajamas for Zac (whoops!). We also had to get our favorite coffee pods and creamer, because we are boujee coffee freaks!

Tomorrow we will go back to the hospital for our first round of labs. This is how the doctors will monitor his liver numbers, look for rejection, and dose his meds. (Ahhhh, the meds!) Zac is currently on 12 meds, but this will decrease over time.

Tonight we are hoping for some sleep, so prayers for that. Zac really is doing great and we are so thankful for all of the continued prayers as he recovers. ❤️💚

11/01/2024

Days 4 & 5 Update:

On Wednesday, Zachary graduated from the PICU!! He sat up by himself in the chair for over an hour playing with his toys. We moved to the general floor early evening and got everything settled. He had a hard time getting to sleep. The nurses had some trouble getting his meds on good schedule so that he wasn’t getting interrupted every couple of hours.

On Thursday, the hospital provided all of the patients with Halloween costumes. They has a “shop” set up downstairs and I was able to find Zac a Marshall Paw Patrol costume. They also had reverse trick-or-treating. They staff dressed up and walked the hall of the hospital put toy treats in Zac’s bag. It was so cute!

Zac is doing amazing! He has been up walking the hall, eating some regular (soft) foods, playing, and his little personality is coming out more each day! The doctor’s have been very impressed with his results and recovery so far.

It has been challenging moving to the regular floor. The care has been much different. We have been calling it the do-it-yourself floor (which is why I wasn’t able to post any updates). It’s been pretty full-on ever since we got up here.

Even through these challenges, I am just so extremely thankful and full of gratitude to be able to witness this miracle. I know there is another family grieving the loss of their child and I don’t think I will ever not be able to think about that. I just hope that we can use this gift and testimony to give that family a little hope and joy.

Good is moving! He has walked with us in the valleys and he will walk with us on the mountains. My God is so so good!

10/30/2024

Day 3 Update:
Zac’s transplant surgeon said that transplant recovery is like a roller coaster, full of ups and downs. That was today. Here are a few of the things that happened:

Zac was able to stand with assistance for about 30 seconds! I did not want to do it and tried to lay back down a few times, but ultimately he did it.

Zac was very grumpy overall today. They took him off of his steady dose of pain meds and now he/we can press the button to administer pain meds as needed.

He was also very sad today. He was crying and kept saying he wanted to go home. This was so hard for me to see. We just let him feel all of his feelings and let him go through the motions.

Mimi got Zac to smile and chuckle! To cheer him up, Mimi got in the bed and played “hide the paci”. She also hid under the blanket and popped out. Zac loves it when she is silly.

Zac’s goal from his doctors was to p*e today without a catheter. Goal achieved! Zac went p*e in the bedside urinal 6 or 7 times today, which was amazing!! This means he is headed to the right direction and will possibly leave PICU tomorrow.

Time to rest up and get ready for tomorrow.

10/29/2024

Day 2 Update:
Zac is a champion! The nurses absolutely love him and say he has been an amazing patient! He watched his tablet some today and was much more awake. He was able to verbalize when he was in pain and felt like he needed more medicine. The nurse took his catheter out and tried to get him to p*e on his own, but he just didn’t want to. His urine backed up and made him super uncomfortable so they put the catheter back in. He also did almost pull his NG tube out, but we caught it in time and were able to get it situated.

He also had a lot more movement today. PT came in and he was able to sit on the edge of the bed by himself. Big boy!! They will be coming in each day to get him moving. He did have some elevated blood pressure but they were able to get it back down.

Biggest news of the day, Zac was finally able to have some ice chips!! Ice is one of his favorite things and he was so excited!

Lots of action today, but overall he had a good day and we are so thankful! 💚

Team Zac

04/30/2025

01/24/2025

01/21/2025

11/24/2024

11/22/2024

11/19/2024

11/09/2024

11/06/2024

11/03/2024

11/01/2024

10/30/2024

10/29/2024

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category