Hey Everyone,
I sure hope everyone is doing great. We have had a pretty good week. Of course, the kids started school last week. They both have really good teachers. Michael has Mrs. Starnes and Michayla has Mrs. Baines. They both were really excited to be back at school. We have been back at Vanderbilt twice this week. As of today we are finally rid of the CMV virus, but her doctors think that we might have some other kind or bacteria lurking around. For some unknown reason Michayla`s spleen is swelling again. After her transplant her spleen was going back down to normal size, but like I said for some reason it is swelling again. On Tuesday they put her asleep to run a scope down to see if the swelling is due to some vascular issues. they didn`t feel like that was the cause. So once again they have got the invectious disease doctors on board to try to pinpoint the reason. In the mean time they told me to watch out for a fever and bruising. Michayla also got her PICC line out on Tuesday, so it looks like we might be going swimming for the first time tomorrow. Well actually I probally will give them the option between the fair or swimming.Well anyways I am going to close, I hope everyone has a good weekend.

So, I have tried two other times to put in a long journal entry and I lost them both. Here we go again!

In Rememberance: Danny`s mom passed away on Thurday due to complications related to heart surgery. They layed her to rest on August,4th at Hermitage Memorial Gardens. Please keep the Bunt family in your prayers.

The Benefits: Both benefits went awesome! Mike Smith was kind enough to get all the food donated from Kenneth O Lester, Cracker Barrel donated lots of toys, and we were blessed with a bunch of auction items. Thank you to everyone who volunteered long hours and all thier hard work. Michael and I want to give a special thanks to Valerie and Nick for putting it all together. I`t was really nice to see everyone, some of our family and friends we hadn`t seen in a long time.

Shear Image in Murfreesboro done a wonderful job as well. They put together some volunteers and sold hotdogs, they did 10$ haircuts, pedicures, and manicures. These ladies had never met Michayla, they had only seen us on the news and they were kind enough to donate all the proceeds to Michayla. They even cut Michael and Michayla`s hair, gave my mom and Michayla a pedicure, and cut and colored mine. Thank you Donna and Alicia you ladies were AWESOME!!

Coming Home: We got the ok to come home on Monday the 28th. Carly called me around 3:00 and said that she had spoke with the Infectous Disease doctors and since Michayla`s CMV ( the virus) count was down to 1,350 from about 35,000 they thought we could finish the I.V. antibotics at home. Michayla didn`t have as big of a melt down about leaving the Ronald McDonald House as I had thought. Of course, she definetly wasn`t happy about it at first. Mrs. Rebecca , one of the ladies that worked there and the lady that Michayla shared an "office" with, was as sad as Michayla was. She informed me that she was going to have to recieve visitation rights to my child, or we well have to become new best friends that way she will always be able to see Michayla. Everyone of the employees there were great. We actually went by there last Friday after we got out of the clinic and Michayla will probaly fuss if we don`t go by there this Friday.They are an excellent organization. I`f you are ever looking for a place to donate to go down to the R.M.House and you can definetly see where your money is going to. If Michayla`s CMV count is back down to normal when we get labs again on Friday then hopefully they`ll pull the PICC line and well be done with IV antibotics. Just in time for school to start. Michael and Michayla are excited about school starting back. Big Michael went and registered the kids last Friday. I wasn`t able to go because Mchayla`s doctors appt. was on Friday as well. Michayla has Mrs.Bain this year. We are excited because Mrs. Bain is Mrs.Shelton`s sister and she seems just as sweet as Vicki. Well I need to close for now Michael has got a denist appt. at 1:00. I promise I will do better about journal entry`s now that everything has calmed down a little bit.

Hello,
I hope everyone had a great weekend. Michayla was admitted back in the hospital on Friday due to a virus. Tomorrow they will put Michayla to sleep to place a PICC line in. After that Dr. Gilis said if I was comfortable administering her Iv antiobotics twice a day then we can go back to the R.M.House on Monday or Tuesday. I don`t really know how confident I am about that since I tried to give her a insulin shot yesterday and when I gave it to her it came out before I could push the medicene in. Needness to say she didn`t like me to much after that, because the nurse had to stick her again. The nurse said giving her meds through an I.V. would actually be easier then giving her a shot because your mostly keeping the line flushed out. She is not so excited about bieng here since she loves the R.M.House. She has got to much energy to be in the hospital thanks to the steriods, she`s bouncing off the walls. I try to remind myself when I`m tired and she`s still ready to go, go, go that I really wouldn`t want it any other way. So everyone is getting ready for the Family Fun Day next Saturday. Some family and friends passed some flyers out on Saturday, Michael and I appreciate everyone of you guys. One good thing about us bieng in the hospital now is that she will be good to go on Saturday. We may still be at the R.M.House but the doctors say she should be able to attend the fun day, but she will just have to wear a mask. Michael and I can`t wait. I`t will definetly be a good day, seeing some of our closest friends and family that we haven`t seen in a while. I guess I`ll close for now Michayla`s procedure will be pretty early in the morning.

Hello Friends and Family,
We are still at the Ronald McDonald House as of right now, but we are probaly going back to the hospital for around 7 days for some IV antiobics. The doctors had warned me a few weeks ago that Michayla had a risk of getting a virus called CMV. CMV is a virus that is contracted one of three ways: first one would be from the public, second one would be she has caught it from herself because she had it earlier in the year, and the third one is she got it from the donated liver. The doctors think she most likely contracted it from the liver because she already had built antibodies up from when she had it last time. The good thing about it is we only know about the virus from labs, not from her feeling bad. So hopefully it will be easier to get rid of since it`s not full blown yet. So anyways Michayla is getting more and more rotten by the day thanks to our wonderful friends at the R.M.House. Michayla is officialy an employee here. She has her on desk ,computer, telephone number, note pads it`s so funny. She loves it here! I hope were going to be able to go to the kids day next weekend. I also want to thank everyone who has volunteered to help out. Thank you as well to Menlo employees for all of your hard work.Thanks Christie and Vivian for fixing the meals, thanks to Barbara Smith for going and handing out flyers, and thanks to J.C. Neal for the gas card. To anyone that wants to help pass out flyers tomorrow get with Danny, my mom, or Valerie. Well I am going to close, I have got to fix Michayla some lunch. Have a good weekend!

Thank you Jesus for all the special people in our life! We recieved a letter at the house stating that Michayla has been granted a wish through Make A Wish Foundation. Michayla is very excited, and it will be nice to have something to look forward to. We went to the doctor today and we got some labs. Dr. Gillis said that we can start winging off the steriods a little. Instead of 20mg we are dropping down to 15mg, it`s not a whole lot but it`s definetly a good start. She said that we can leave for a while this weekend, if I can drag Michayla out of here. So if anyone is planning to come and see us please call us first so that way we don`t miss anybody. Dr. Gillis also mentioned a few other things; one bieng that if Michayla continues to do well that we will more than likely be home in two weeks and maybe see about going home next Friday after clinic. Another thing we discussed was they had picked Michayla to be on thier brochure to educate and if you will advertise thier fairly new Liver Tranplant program. To those of you that didn`t know Michayla was just thier second liver transplant at Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital, and thier first successful one. She also said that Michayla`s picture might be on some organ donation posters and paplets as well, how exciting. Yesterday Michayla`s two principle`s: Mr. Hill and Mr. Dennison came to see her and guess what they drove all this way and she wasn`t even in trouble(ha ha). They was really interested in hearing Michayla`s story starting on June 17th. After talking for a while Michayla and I gave them the grand tour. They are some great guys! To anyone that would like to come see us please feel free to come on. I know I`ve heard that some of you guys are a little reluctant to come thinking that we are busy or wore out. We are not and would love to have visiters. I`m going to close for now so I can get some laundry done, I hope everyone has a good weekend.

Today has been another good day. Michayla and I saw Katie off around 11:00am. Kathy (Katie`s mom) told Michayla that they would come and see Michayla next Monday after their clinic appt. So we have been just hanging out today, watching it rain. Nanny (Michael`s mom) called earlier and said that her work (Minlow) has been doing some fundraising for Michayla. She also had said that some ladies from her work were going to come out to the Family Fun Day and volunteer. We sure do thank you guys for all of your hard work. Thank you to Nanny as well for pulling people together for our little princess. Sometimes I forget how good God has been to us. Danny and I were talking yesterday afternoon about a little girl on one of COTA`S websites that also had a liver transplant. She has ran into some trouble after transplant. I could not imagine bieng on that side of the fence, and it could of been us so easily. I`t just still amazes me how well she`s doing. Well I`ll close for now, have a good afternoon.

Sorry that it has been a few days since my last journal entry, but hey what can I say our lives have been somewhat uneventful. I hope everyone had a good fourth of July. We got to get out for a while, so we went to our home town and saw the fireworks at the fairgrounds in Lebanon. Michayla had a very good time, but at the same time she couldn`t wait to get back. Our new found friends Katie and her brother Dylan and mom Kathy are probaly going to get to leave on Wednesday. She has a procedure tomorrow that can determine if her body is rejecting her new heart and if the test goes well they can go home on Wed. We are definetly excited for them but were going to be lost without our Katie. Yesterday Katy`s mom and I took the girls to the mall to the Build a Bear workshop. They made thier own bears, picked the bears out an outfit, some shoes, and named them after each other. Michayla actually got a bunny rabbit and she named hers "Katie Bug" and Katie got a pink bear with white hearts and she named hers "Kay Kay". Kathy and I have talked about the girls will probally be life long friends, and we will meet half way in the future so the girls can continue seeing eachother. Tomorrow we go back to the doctor and I hope we will be discussing winging Michayla off the steriods. The day of the transplant Michayla weighed 55 pounds. She lost a few after transplant but has gained it back since. The doctors had warned me that Michayla was subject to gain 20 to 30 pounds due to steriods. My first thought was no way Michayla is so tiny. "Oh GOODNESS" was I ever wrong. Michayla is eating everything! Before transplant Michayla would eat maybe a whole piece of pizza. Saturday I had to stop her at her fourth piece. Her Dad said don`t stop her from eating, let her eat what she wants. When Katy leaves on Wednesday I believe we are next in line for a suite. The suite has a kitchen, a bedroom, and a living room area in it. As oppose to just two beds and a bathroom, and no cable tv. So when we get a big refrigerator we are going to have to go to the grocery store and get some healthy snacks and better food, because "Oh Yes" I can see her gaining 20 or 30 pounds if she keeps eating as much as she is eating now. I want to thank Mrs. Donna Butler for wanting to do the benefit for Michayla. We will try to get Michayla out there that day. I want to try to maybe have Michayla a Welcome Home Party. I`m really not to sure about my house though, I don`t know well have to see. We still have a while here and if we do it I want it to be a surprise to Michayla. Have a good day!

Hello to all,
I thought I would take a minute to update everyone on what we`ve been up to. Granny(my mom) came up here yesterday morning and stayed with Michayla while I went home for a while. I`t definetly felt good to go home for the day. Michayla and her new friend Katey(Katey is a little girl here at the R.M.House who had a heart transplant)played surgery with granny, they gave her a new heart and a new liver. My mom said they pretended to give her some sleepy medicene and taped ink-pens to her arm like she had a I.V. Michayla`s cousin little Floyd came and hung out with her yesterday afternoon as well. Last night we went to Crave (christian book store and a cafe) where they held Michayla a benefit. They had people singing christian music and it was held outside. Michael, little Michael, Danny, Valerie, Nick, Landon, Jaylyn, and myself attended. We really had a good time. Thank You Valerie for speaking for us, you really did a wonderful job. While I have mentioned you I want to let you and everyone else know how much I appreciate all the hard work you have put in this campaigne.I love you girl! Today we are just hanging out here at the R.M.House. My uncle Bobby and aunt Peggy are up stairs playing games with Michayla. Dad and Bubba are at church in Carthage and I think there going to stay in Lebanon today and get some work done around the house. I`f you guys could keep the parents here at the R.M.House on your prayer list. A few days ago a baby past away and yesterday a little boy named Andy that was seven had complications due to a heart transplant past away as well.

Hey Everyone,
My world continues to be great. My aunt Peggy and uncle Bobby had Michael at thier house for a couple days. They brought him to me last night at the Ronald McDonald House, it took alot off of me knowing that he was taken such good care of and that he was having a good time. So Bobby or Peggy if you are reading this I Love and appreciate you guys very much! We went to the GI clinic for labs today and I actually just got the results back. Carly the transplant coordinator/nurse practioner/our #1 go to girl said our labs our getting better everyday. Michayla is dropping her dosage of prograf everyday. Prograf is the anti-rejection med that she will be on for the rest of her life.She went from six pills twice a day to four pills twice a day starting tonight at siw. Michayla really likes it here at the R.M.House. Tonight there having pizza and game night. Since we have been here they have provided dinner everynight, free of charge. Different churches or organizations come and cook or bring food.When Michayla gets better we will have a lot of paying it forward to do. I know I`ve said it before and I probally keep on saying it we have met or came in contact with some great people!!Gonna Go, I got to hunt little Michael down.

Hey Everyone,
Michayla and I are doing very good. We left Vanderbilt around 5:30pm last night. Before we left we had alot of visiters. News Channel 2 and 17 were there, some ladies from the Donor Organization, several doctors, nurses, and other Vanderbilt staff that have been with us during our stay. They gave us a nice little farewell party. They gave her two gifts, High School Musical makeup and a Crayolla paint sprayer. Dr. Kelley (transplant surgeon) gave Michayla two basketballs, one of them was a Vols basketball signed by Pat Summit, and the other was a Vanderbilt ball signed by the doctors and nurses. I`ll tell you what Michayla`s doctors are the very best doctors in the world, and I`m not just saying that because they saved her life.They really care about these kids, they are very down to earth and they have the best personalities. I`t was nothing for them to hang out in our room and play with Michayla. I have had some experiences with doctors you have to hurry up and ask the questions or they are out of there. Vanderbilt Liver Team is Awesome! The Ronald McDonald House is great as well. I`t is a very nice facility, with very nice staff and volunteers. It`s definetly a step down from the hospital. There`s not alot of children here. I think there`s about 4 including Michayla. Michayla is actually playing with a little girl right now named Katey. She had a heart transplant around Memorial Day. I`m going to close for now,but again I can`t say Thanks enough to you guys.