Josie Basta was never a kid who liked waiting. She made signs proclaiming "No!" and waved them around like a one-person protest when she thought her mom was taking too long on a phone call. On long car trips, Marge and Joe Basta placed strips on the window by their daughter's seat, allowing her to pull one off every 15 minutes to count down to their destination.
But for almost a year, Josie had played the waiting game for a new heart.
She lived in the cardiac intensive care unit at Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, tethered to a ventricular assist device called a Berlin Heart pump that did the work of her failing organ. She took medicines that made her feel woozy and throw up. She endured weekly bandage changes. The mechanical cart that handled the operations for the Berlin Heart was serviced and replaced four times --with Josie's stickers carefully returned to the same spots afterward -- like a car needing an oil change and tuneup.
Read more and watch 'Josie's Gift: http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20111226/NEWS/112260330/At-last-another-heart-for-Josie?odyssey=tab%7Cmostpopular%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE
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