Category: Notes from Others

many people cann’t remember any thoughts prior to 5 years of age, but i remember may 3’s and even have a memory from my 2’s. my first memory is the day i met stacey i remember?the couch along the west wall of our living room, brown and ugly. laura entered the living room from the front door with stacey. all the adults gathered around the baby (not me stacey) everyone was getting a turn holding the baby, my mom my dad laura, dont remember if glenn was their (there are limits to my memories), but i keep saying i want to hold the baby, and i was getting ignored by the adults, and i was getting more worked up about it until someone, maybe my sister sherry said “if you want to hold the baby you have to sit on the couch, which i promptly did. they i repeated my self until i got my chance, i remember laura saiyng are we ignoring you, and someone placing the baby in my lap!

Wow, Stacey, you weren’t kidding about your new blog. It’s very cool! I look forward to reading more of your stories. 🙂

Hi Stacey! Good job with badminton and climbing. Your new guestbook looks great. Great job Tori! Am back from Vietnam and will call you soon. Take care in the meantime! -Felix

In a very belated celebration of Stacey’s new lungs :d here is a much needed new and improved online journal and guestbook!

Stacey’s orignal journal, which covers her journey from the beginning in October 2003 through July 2006 (wow!), can still be found HERE as an archive.

Want to leave a note for Stacey?
It is just as easy as before, you just have to Register the first time.
A password will be emailed to you automatically after you register. Then simply Login and write away!:d

And help support her site by checking out some of the sponser links!!

(@) -Tori

Isa – you said 2008 in Pittsburgh… what about the Bangkok World Games in 2007? Sounds much nicer… It is a fantastic place and I would love to meet you all there! xoxo Denise, from Riga

Stacey, This picture sums it up for me! Oh, we love you so much. And we were so happy to be there with you to see you shine! Now Sophie wants to write to you: Hi Stacey. 🙂 I want to see you soon. I will send you a picture. I like these litte faces, they are funny. Mia is silly. She pulled my hair bad today and she got in trouble. We love you. I love you. SOPHIA 😉 I like the winking eye. :p Aunt Stacey I like the face with the tongue out! LOVE YOU! P.S. It is midnight, yes… Sophie has jet lag….., – Denise, from Riga

Thank you Stacey and Laura for so eloquently describing the incredibly life-affirming week we spent at the US Transplant games in Louisville. Laura, you so perfectly describe the love and gratitude of EVERY mother of a transplant recipient who has the honor to watch their child overcome tragic illness and come to the brink of death, only to be resurrected by the kindness and miracle of someone else’s gift. Stacey deserves more than any other to thrive at the games, and the gold medal around her neck was just the icing on the cake as a reward for how far she has come. It was a dream for me, as well as Stacey, to attend the Games together, also with my sister Ana, to all be strong and healthy in 2006. I am in awe of the energy, the love, the support and the joy of this indescribeable event we all witnessed. Stacey and I just went on a walk together today with my dog Rupie. We talked all about the games; like in one week, the energy and joie de vivre continues to inspire us. Our doctors have congratulated us and we acknowledge we couldn’t have done it without them. They are the true heroes here as well as, needless to say, our own donors whose memories and lives live on. Thank you all for listening and supporting Stacey in her quest for life and quest for the gold. Onward, we aim, for Pittsburg 2008!!! May God help us all get there! -Isa Stenzel Byrnes

Hi Stacey, I just got an email from your sister and she told me about what has been going on with you. I am so glad to hear that you are doing better. She said it has been a long road for you. Sounds like it from your website. Wow a lot can happen in 7 years. I can’t believe it has been 7 years since Denise and Jerry got married and we saw you all last. Well, things with me and Tim are going well. The little boy that I was pregnant with is now 6 turning 7 in October his name is TJ and my oldest daughter is Kyla she is going to be a teenager in Sept. and my other daughter will be 12 in Sept. Time is just flying by. I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know we are thinking of you and glad to hear you are doing better. Keep in touch. Talk to you soon. -Michelle Cline

A little heart sticker Denise wore on her t-shirt over her own heart symbolizes the sentiment of the Transplant Games for me. When I came home from Kentucky, I printed organ donor registration forms and cards from the state organ donation website. It is easy. One donor may directly help as many as 60 people plus bring years of joy to all their families and friends. I encourage everyone reading this to look at the web page for your own state, print and pass on the information. “My heart (as well as liver, lungs, kidneys, corneas, spleen, etc.) goes out to you.” takes on a profound literal as well as spiritual meaning. Michelle, Stacey’s old school chum, joined our family at the campsite with her two adorable daughters. Michelle’s sister, Colleen, was an organ donor. Thank you so much Michelle for being with our family at these games. Stacey with her double lung transplant won the gold medal. For those of you who do not know, it is far more difficult to play aerobic sports with a lung transplant than with any other. Stacey was the only lungs recipient in these final matches. Stacey has always been an athlete, and our family photos are a life long documentation of her throwing balls, kicking balls, hitting balls, climbing rocks and trees and running with the the enthusiasm of a puppy. Every mother I spoke with who attended the games has highlights of the experience etched on her heart which are as unique as her own precious child. When Denise placed the gold medal around Stacey’s neck, everyone went wild, crying and clapping for this long deserved tribute to Stacey, a woman who has always whole heartedly loved athletics, and in all ways embodies the merits of good sportsmanship, adores everything that athletics has to offer, challenges her own limits and continually strives heroically for her own personal best while coaching others to do the same. On or off the field, win, place or just show up, the athletes of these games all exemplify what it means to have the Heart of a Champion. So thanks Denise for wearing that little sticker of a heart over your own and demonstrating that while this disease has broken our hearts, love heals. And thanks profoundly Michelle for so tenderly bringing us the message from your family that your sister’s heart is still beating. Everyone can participate in these games by signing and circulating donor cards. Stacey has a bumper sticker that says”Recycle Yourself”. -Laura Jeanchild

Hello Stacey! It was great seeing you and your wonderful family at the transplant games in Louisville. Even though you cleaned house winning the gold in the women’s badminton division, the non-transplant games that occured after when you swept the gold from your Co-ed competition was just as exciting! I heard the 2008 US transplant games are in Pittsburgh! Love Michelle, Brain, Colleen and Brittany, from Milwaukee WI