Wednesday, November 16, 2011

My niece

I haven't mentioned it before on my blog, but I have a niece and nephew that suffer from a rare liver disease. My nephew had a liver transplant when he was 5 years old and my niece was able to have a special surgery to prolong the use of her liver since she was 8 months old. The disease has progressed, however, and she is currently awaiting a liver transplant.

We are hoping she will find one soon (we are testing a family member). In the meantime, I was able to attend a fundraiser last week in Stockton to help raise funds for the transplant surgery should we find a donor.

Although it was hard on the family at first, we are staying very positive about the situation. Marissa exudes positivity right now and couldn't be any happier that she finally has enough energy to attend school (it's her first year of high school). Love her and I hope we have some good news on this soon!

My sis Hong, me, my sis Nga 
Marissa, Hong, Johnathon (my nephew)
Reserved for Marissa!
Gramps with Max (Max would NOT let anyone else hold him that night!) 
Leon chasing Max (BTW, this was how most of the dinner went w/ Max)
Max points something out for Grandma
Max & the Grands
Hong, Marissa, & John (Marissa's Dad)
Marissa giving her thank you speech
This past weekend, I was lucky enough to steal Marissa overnight and we had an all-out shopping trip up in San Francisco. What a great time!

Marissa also got to spend some time playing with Max. He was being pretty coy and shy around her at first (um...not Max's usual M.O.) then once he warmed up, he didn't want anyone else holding him! So cute to see these cousins together.

M & M - cousins!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This story just breaks my heart but we keep her (and your nephew and your entire family) in our hearts. You two are THE BEST aunt & uncle ever! She's so lucky to have such support from such a wonderful family. We love you guys and are sending prayers to her.