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| Tuesday, July 25
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| Saturday, July 29
MESSAGE 1:
Hello all, just a quick update on Caitlin's progress. She has been adjusting to being home and not having someone come
in her room every few hours to poke and prod her. I have always heard that steroids give you an appetite, but, never witnessed it.
Caitlin wants to eat all day long. All in the span of a week...she went from someone that could only be fed with a feeding tube to
having an unstoppable appetite. The fat cheeks that we were warned about are here.
Caitlin and her Cardiologist (Dr. Spicer)
Caitlin enjoying the outdoors for a change of pace.
Caitlin digging in the food pantry. (Her favorite pastime)
Hope you enjoy the pics...Thanks again for the cards, calls, and prayers.
Cory, Amanda, Brittany, Corinne, & Caitlin
MESSAGE 2:
Can you recognize Caitlin? Hint, she is the one with the fat cheeks.
 
 
 
 
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| Tuesday, August 1
Hello All Ye Prayer Warriors!
But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
They will run and not grow weary,
They will walk and not be faint.
Isa. 40:31
We have a lot to be thankful for. We have been waiting for this day for a long time. Today we received the results from
Caitlin's biopsy. As you may recall, Caitlin had some complications that led to her immune system actually attempting to reject
her new heart shortly after receiving it. The transplant team discovered this quickly and treated this rejection very
aggressively for 72 hours. But, it would take 12-14 days of waiting to find out if the treatment was a success or not. Yesterday,
Caitlin had a follow-up biopsy but it would take 24 hours to get the lab results. The results are now official. Caitlin has "0"
active rejection of her new heart. Caitlin's heart is performing just like when she received it indicating that the rejection
episode was so short lived that there was no damage to her heart.
In addition, the recent tests of her levels of medicines that prevent rejection or exactly where they want them to be. Her
high level of steroids, which were an insurance against any further rejection, can now be reduced...meaning..those big ole
cheeks are going to slowly start fading back to normal. I guess I will have to squeeze them double time while I still can.
The most exciting thing for Caitlin, today, was the return of her two sisters, Corinne and Brittany. The other two girls
have been in Louisiana for most of the summer. Caitlin was so excited to have her big sisters back. She has 3 more weeks of
light duty before she can start having activities of a normal 4 yr. old. Please take a moment and thank God for answering our
prayers and taking care of our little one.
Sincerely,
Cory, Amanda, Brittany, Corinne, & Caitlin Fruge
Caitlin Fruge
1069 N Bend Rd
Hebron, KY 41048
CaitlinFruge@aol.com
859-466-3333
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| Tuesday, August 29
Caitlin has been doing well for the past month or so. She has had heart biopsies every two weeks for the last 60 days. The
grade of rejection has been zero on all of them - until today. Today the results came back that she has "mild" rejection. The
plan is to increase certain anti-rejection medicines and repeat the biopsy in two weeks (September 11th). Caitlin appears in
all other aspects to being doing great. Her energy level is robust and she bounces, runs, and skips all over the place. We
pray that her rejection is once again controlled and is brought back down to "zero".
We were hoping that today we would be able to decrease medicines, but, I guess we will have to wait another two weeks for the
opportunity to do that. On a side note, we discovered that Caitlin's Cardiologist's favorite food is "fried shrimp". So, yesterday,
Caitlin had a Ziploc bag full of shrimp for him when she showed up. He carried them in his coat pocket and ate them sparingly
while doing his rounds. That's all for now. Will update again soon. --Cory
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| Friday, November 10
I need to take the time to write a nice Caitlin Update. I don't take that lightly and have been dragging my feet to do so.
Never seems to be the perfect time to sit and write. Caitlin has been doing extremely well. We are currently at "zero" rejection
and her steroid doses are reaching a significant reduction level where we ought to see physical changes beginning to appear. Yes!
Her cheeks will start to go away! We are going to miss them. All in all we are very blessed to have our little girl still here with
us (so healthy and HAPPY). I get a kick out of watching her skip, jump, run, climb on cabinets, (you name it). We are doing another
Biopsy on Nov.15th...1st time we go out 3 weeks vs. the normal 2 weeks between biopsies. The transplant team here is very aggressive.
They leave nothing to chance as far as I can tell. We are gearing up to come home for Christmas and the wedding January 7th. Caitlin
will be walking down the aisle as a flower girl. I think I am going to cry when I see her. I know I will be thinking "you know,
11 months ago I caught an emergency flight home to find her in ICU on life support.....Look at her now!" The doctors tell me that
10 years ago...they probably could not have saved her. We feel like we are walking on air most of the time. Since Caitlin has gotten
her heart and rejection brought down to zero, I don't think our life has ever returned to normal......and that's not a bad thing.
Life moves so fast all the time....this experience has made us slow down and "smell the roses" so to speak. Talk to you soon,
see you soon too. Can't wait to have our "Homecoming" for Caitlin.
--Cory Fruge
 
 
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| Monday, December 11
Just passing along some pics of an outing we took on Sunday. We
had a little warm spell after a few weeks of "COLD". We found a
frozen creek and waterfall near the Ohio River. We built a fire and
the girls had a blast walking on the ice and looking at the fish
under their feet. Caitlin soon figured out that she could throw
stones and break the ice. I think she enjoyed that more than
anything.
--Cory Fruge
 
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| Monday, December 11
Caitlin is doing great. Just wanted to share some quick pics that I took while in Louisiana.
-Cory
 
 
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| Thursday, March 8
To all of Caitlin's prayer warriors:
It has been a while...too long....since I have been able to get any news out on Caitlin's recovery from her heart failure and
subsequent transplant. March 10th, 2007, marks the one year anniversary of when Caitlin was admitted to Cincinatti Children's
Hospital with congestive heart failure. That day started a 4 month vigil for a recovery from the heart disease. Her miracle
recovery would ultimately come in the form of a new heart that has made her extremely healthy and energetic. The heavy doses of
steroids and other medications that prevented rejection of the new heart have been steadily decreasing. She has tolerated these
medications pretty well. The steroid enhanced cheeks that we had gotten so used to are shrinking and will continue to decrease
over the next 4 months. It is hard to believe that the heart transplant surgery was only 8 months ago. Caitlin has come so far
in such a short period of time. We are looking forward to spring time and "outside" activities. Thank you all for your continued
prayers and concern for Caitlin.
God Bless,
The Fruge Family
 
 
 
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