By Brenda Cannon Henley
My heart is heavy and I need my friends of a lifetime. I am awake in the wee hours praying for my youngest grandchild, Maya Grace Stancil. Our strong, spirited, smart, sweet, stunning, surprising, and sensitive child is the daughter of my son, Dr. John (Brent) Stancil, and his courageous wife, Valerie. Brent is Senior Pastor of Community Bible Baptist Church in Pinellas Park, FL. Many of you know our long running story.

Maya has just gone into her fifth month being isolated inside one of the best children’s hospitals in the world. She is an in-patient in the remarkable Johns Hopkin’s All Childrens Hospital ICU in St. Pete. The doctors and nurses are now our family and none of us on Maya’s team can say enough good about these medical heroes. These professionals literally give their lives for these tiny patients.

One cannot know or feel the depths of this kind of struggle unless you’ve been in the trenches, ridden the emotional roller coaster of hope and defeat, taken your blessed allotted time entertaining, encouraging, and enticing a patient so young and full of life – today.

Maya spent all of the past holidays, delighted in her seventh birthday, missed two big family weddings, learned to continue her education on line and in hospital, misses her classmates, and at the top of her list, her church, and sees no immediate respite. She has now reached the heartbreaking stage of really wanting to go home to her life.

Her dad is a big, giant softie, who finds the need to quickly walk into the hall to wipe his tired eyes when she pleads with him. “I just want to go home, Daddy. I want to sleep in my bed and play with Harley and Abby (her dogs). And I really want to go to church and school.” After a pause, those big brown eyes implore her weary dad to understand. “I don’t want to go ‘off’ anywhere. I just want to go home.”

Maya will not go home until a just right heart is found to sustain her young life. She underwent her first complete heart transplant when she was only eight months old and before she was officially fostered and adopted into the Stancil family. She’s a natural and fits so perfectly even to the dark brown hair and eyes and most lively personality.

The heart beating inside her little body is too damaged and too sick to last much longer without a miracle of God. In a late night conversation with one of our favorite nurses, she explained to me that Maya is simply in a difficult age of the transplant spectrum for a new heart. “Younger and older ones are sometimes more available. We just have not had one that fits.”

And, yes, our family is fully aware of the cold, hard fact of life that the donor family suffers for life. We pray for them with every prayer made for a heart for Maya.

If you know little about the world of transplant life, I urge you to educate yourself, get involved, help, be an encouragement, give where you can, volunteer, advocate, and be a concerned Christian about the Father’s business.

These families are in a struggle that at times seem consuming. Other family members can feel neglected. Schedules are conflicted, trips back and forth to the hospital are wearing and expensive. Emotions are convoluted and can turn like the wind.

Only the peace of God and trust in His infallible word can sustain you in times like these. Our family is sure that our Anchor holds (Hebrews 6:19) and we trust Him – No matter what His ultimate will is for our lives.

What can you do to help? How do we need you, our old friends and our new friends? How can you be a blessing to all transplant families?

We need you to pray. Don’t stop praying because the journey is long. Our desire is that our precious baby get a heart and soon. We need prayer for continued strength for the journey, wisdom and blessing on all our medical teams, and continued breakthroughs in research, education, and development.

Our Maya is blessed beyond measure because of our church family and our Christian friends around the world. Maya’s mom says that we really do not need any more toys, games, or gifts just now. Storage is a problem and required moves difficult. One good gift idea for all transplant families is very practical. Gift cards that can be used for gas, food (not for the patient, but for caregivers), daily expenses, and the like are helpful, and especially so, in long term situations. Churches and organizations could make a real ministry in visiting hospitals to determine how they could help transplant families.

The biggest sensation and joy for Maya and many others were the over 715 cards and notes she received for her birthday. With Valentine Day coming soon, perhaps you would like to ring that same bell and send a card for her to open and share. She gets really carried away to find a small surprise tucked inside, but nothing large, please.

You may send the Valentines to Brenda Cannon Henley, 5040 89th Terrace, Pinellas Park, FL 33782. We will box them up unopened and deliver to our favorite little Warrior Princess, who is the strongest child I know.

[Jan-18-2022]