" 3/22/00 Yongxin, Shao Shao's dad, just got a letter of acceptance to the PhD program at USC!!!! We are all so elated. They have offered him a 2 year fellowship and a 3 year assistantship. He'll be able to get a student visa now! Rejoicing here! "
" 3/28/00 We will go to visit the Dengs today. Liam misses Shao Shao so much! Liam has had a cold these past 2 weeks so I wanted to keep him away from Shao Shao. Liam is now 4 weeks off of the ventilator and we are delighted! We will start downsizing Liam's trach this week and hopefully in May or June the trach can be removed and our little guy will be able to speak normally again! "
" 4/3/00 The Dengs and I fly to Chicago today to appear on the "Oprah" show. I am so excited about getting the word out about CHDs and hope it will be a great avenue to raise some more funds! Shao Shao is very excited about riding on the airplane and insists on sitting with me. His mom and dad were a few rows behind us. I ordered oxygen for him for the flight but he really didn't need it. A limo picked us up at the airport and the Dengs were so impressed - having never been in one before. The hotel in Chicago is very nice and Shao Shao loves it! We had a wonderful dinner (courtesy of the show) and took a walk around downtown Chicago. I miss Liam but they wouldn't pay for him to come. :-( "
" 4/4/00 We taped the show today and Oprah seemed to really take a shine to Shao Shao. At the end of the show she picked him up and left the studio with him! We all got to meet Mary Anne for the first time. She is the woman who helped me bring the Deng family here from China. She did not know that we would be here. It was a very teary reunion. We got to visit a bit after the show then flew back to LA. "
" 4/10/00-The Oprah show aired today and was a huge disappointment to me. They edited out all information I gave about CHDs and also everything about my organization. I was soooo upset. I feel like they lied to me to get me on the show. They kept telling me how we would be discussing Little Hearts on the Mend. What a terrible letdown this was. I called them and told them how I felt. "
" 5/2/00 Shao Shao had another heart cath today at UCLA. We were hoping that his pulmonary pressures would be low enough to make him eligible for the next surgery - the Fontan. His pressures had come down considerably to 15 but still a bit too high and the docs felt that it was still too risky to move ahead. They will probably check him again next summer to see if the pressure has come down some more. They like the PA pressure to be around 12. So, there is still great hope that Shao Shao will be able to have the Fontan. This gives me more time to keep raising money! "
" 5/19/00 Liam has his trach removed today!!!! Yipeee! The Dengs take the bus to UCLA to visit us in the ICU. We are so elated that our little guy will now be able to speak again! He was so happy to see Shao Shao. "
" 6/22/00 Shao Shao graduated Kindergarten today! "
" 7/4/00 The Dengs go into Hollywood today in hopes of catching glimpses of the firework show at the Hollywood Bowl. The Bowl is sold out but one of the managers at the Bowl sees them and ends up giving them one of the most expensive boxes at the Bowl to see the show and fireworks (would cost about $750!). They loved it and had a great time! "
" 8/10/00 Shao Shao turns 6 years old today! We had a little party for him at my brother's house. He got lots of cool presents! He continues to do well - growing and gaining weight. "
