NEW HEART GIVES TEEN MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR

As Kevin Lossing and his family sit down to a family Thanksgiving dinner today, Kevin says he has lots to be thankful for.

The 13-year-old Cape Girardeau boy underwent a heart transplant June 20.

He has Becker's muscular dystrophy, which caused his heart to weaken and function at only 20 percent of its normal capacity.

Kevin spent 99 days in St. Louis Children's Hospital. For 92 of those days, he was waiting for a heart transplant.

The transplant surgery went well. His body accepted the new heart and he started back to school this fall at Cape Girardeau Central Junior High.

Kevin said being ill gave him a new perspective on what things are important.

"I'm thankful about having a caring community," he said. "I'm thankful that I have friends and family and for having God there for all of us."

When Kevin returned home from the hospital after his transplant, he arrived in a wheelchair and was very weak. When school started Aug. 25, he walked into classes.

"It's wonderful to see him get up in the morning. I pick him up from school," Yvonne Lossing, his mother. "We're back in a routine. It has been wonderful."

Kevin said: "I'm feeling great. I have a lot of energy."

He plays basketball and video games. But most of all he likes talking to his friends at school.

"I'm glad to see all my friends again," said Kevin. "Going to school gives me something to do. It's really boring to be at the hospital."

His friends often think he had lots of time to watch television or read, but Kevin said it's not true.

"I didn't feel like doing anything, not even watching television," he said.

"They say, 'I would like to be out of school like that,' but I tell them. 'Not if you would have to lay in bed all the time.'"

Kevin was out of school for two weeks earlier this month before returning Monday. Fluid built up in the sack around his new heart. A chest tube drains the fluid and his parents pray the problem is resolved.

"He's doing great," his father, Gary Lossing, said. "His heart is working great."

"We still have steps we have to go through with the medicine he takes. He has to have it the rest of his life," Yvonne Lossing said. "It's worth it just to have him.

"We've just been blessed with the community, the churches, everyone who has been so supportive," she said. "He knows how much he's loved."

FROM HIS HEART

"I am thankful that God gave me a new heart that gives me strength and energy. I am also thankful for wonderful family and friends that helped me be able to wait for the heart, who prayed for me, and gave me support."

-- Kevin Lossing, 13, of Cape Girardeau.