The second-graders in Gage Bingham’s class have an extra special reason to use hand sanitizer these days.

Gage, 8, of North Powder, had a heart transplant on April 5 at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, California.

He was discharged Saturday, April 22, and went back to his public school class in California this week.

His mom, Stacy Bingham, said she expected him to start back a little bit at a time, but he wanted to stay the entire day right away.

“He’s actually proven me very wrong,” she said.

Gage’s post-transplant medication is not as strong as what doctors prescribed for his older sisters — Sierra, 17, has had two heart transplants, and Lindsey, 12, one — but he still wears a mask at school to guard against germs.

And his class now knows to use hand sanitizer any time they return to the classroom.

“We should constantly be using hand sanitizer,” Stacy told the students. “They’ve been really good about it.”

The Bingham family must remain in California for at least three months after Gage’s transplant. He will have a biopsy every week for the first month, then every two weeks until the third month, then monthly for six months. After that, it is every two to three months for a year and a half.

“We are never far from this place,” Stacy said.

In a biopsy, samples the size of a grain of rice are taken from four parts of his new heart. Those tiny pieces are then dissected and examined for signs of rejection.

“They see the most rejection in the first three months,” Stacy said.

So far, his score has been zero, which means no rejection. A score of one means one of the four samples shows a sign. A “four” is severe rejection.

Gage’s challenge right now is eating -— Stacy said he gets about 625 calories at night through a feeding tube, but doesn’t have much appetite during the day for real food.

“He’s just so nauseous,” Stacy said.

She said they will try switching to a medication that is more gentle on his stomach.

The medical staff is also working to help Gage’s body get rid of excess fluid.

In the meantime, life goes on for the Binghams with school and sports. They continue to update their blog (jasonandstacybingham.blogspot.com) and have noticed that readers from near and far notice if they haven’t posted something new — even if there isn’t anything to report.

See more in the April 26, 2017, issue of the Baker City Herald.