The dreaded month of August.  When I was growing up this month became the forbidden month, the month to try and lay low. Several bones have been broken in the Foster family during the month of August and this trend has moved on to the Neubert family. For the last four years the month of August was marked with Covid, hospital visits, heart failure, and funny enough... trips to The Deck and beach in Muskegon. In 2022 Mike picked up Covid and it was taking a long time to go away. Turns out it was heart failure. We visited The Deck in Muskegon and walked the long pier out to the lighthouse. Mike couldn't even make it a quarter of the way out and had to sit down on the rocks to rest, we knew something was very wrong. Later that August and into September we found out Mike was in heart failure and he was admitted to the hospital; that began our four year journey to where we are today. In 2023 when we visited the pier Mike was listed at a level 6 on the heart transplant list. When we...

 Wow! Time flies when your having summer fun!  Months 9 & 10 held many milestones for the Neubert family. The end of 5th and 3rd grade, Easton's 9th birthday, cousin and family birthdays, 4th of July, Blake's week at Scout Camp, and Mike's birthday. We were able to spend time with both Mike's family in Alpena and my family in Hessel. It was nice to get away for a bit and enjoy time with loved ones. With the warmer weather we are beginning to see some friends and reconnect. This past year really stopped us in our tracks. As we were celebrating a friends birthday this July we saw a couple that had come to Mike's 40th birthday the year before. We hadn't seen them in exactly one year. Sorry we tried to become friends and then ghosted you for an entire year lol! It has been good to reconnect and come back to old connections as well. One of the bigger milestones was a title promotion for Mike at work. He earned the title as Vice President Relationship Manager. I a...

 Month 8 happens to be the busy month of May filled with fresh flower buds, mother's day, birthday celebrations, and end of the school year activities. As we transition into summer we move into memory lane. Reflecting back on the last couple months before Mike went into the hospital, the activities we did just a year ago that we are repeating again, now with the feelings, emotions, and lessons coming to light. Those memories that felt like the last at one point, are now becoming wonderful moments of treasured time spent together. As the weeks grow short and the activities seem endless take a deep breath and remember that those moments are times in history that you will never get back. Take those moments and enjoy the craziness, learn how to slow time and make the most out of every second.  This month's rejection level was 0, we have been so blessed to have these results and thank God for Mike's new heart and body to be working together. We have noticed some extra bloating a...

 Month 7 has held some good things for the Neubert Family: some firsts and some wonderful news.  Mike: For month 7 Mike only had to get his blood work done and send it off to California for the donor-derived cell-free DNA test. It once again came back as a zero rejection level and we are thrilled to see his heart and body working as one. We also received wonderful news that he no longer needs to get the actual biopsy done. Instead, the new protocol is to use the blood test, if the test shows signs of rejection then they may need to complete the actual biopsy for that month. This means less hospital visits and less invasive procedures. Mike is also in the process of weaning off some medications and starting a new med that is meant to prevent transplant vasculopathy (narrowing of the coronary vessels) and can help to improve kidney function. He has also stopped taking one of his immune suppression medications which has brought the days med count down significantly. Mike is still...

 2025 is going by so fast! I can hardly believe that six months have past since Mike got his heart transplant. March 7th marks half a year through this journey, and oh what a journey it has been!  Over the last couple months we have celebrated Blake's 11th birthday, my 38th birthday, and a few more birthday parties on top of those. Blake crossed over into Boy Scouts and went on his first campout with his new troop. Easton and Blake wrestled in a few tournaments where they earned some new medals, they have Regionals coming up this weekend. The boys are doing great in school and growing so fast, Blake is catching up to us all and already 5'4". While I am writing this blog tonight I had to put them back to bed three times...they are getting creative with their procrastination techniques. In the not so far future I can only imagine that they won't be coming back out to ask silly questions and want to be tucked back into bed. These times are so precious and fly by so fast. ...

 It's amazing to think that one year ago we were celebrating Mike getting off the Heart Transplant List, and now here in 2025 he has a new heart!  2024 was a rolling rollercoster of emotions, fears, celebrations, and the deep unknown. It started off with celebration packed with the never ending question of when. When would he get worse again, when would his heart fail, when when when. The looming question that seated itself in the back of my mind. The question that popped into my mind when I was driving alone, when Mike didn't answer my phone calls, when he was alone with the boys; it wasn't an overwhelming thought, just a thought that would spring up and make itself at home in the corner of my mind. Mike would say that I worry for the both of us, which is absolutely true...someone has to do it! I worry and then prepare for those worries. I think all that worrying and preparing really helped us get through the worst moments of 2024...but then again, you can never be prepare...