Die Allianz T-D-P » allowed one run and did not figure in the

MAYBE SHELL be at a sorority function, surrounded by her friends, when the text message pops up on her phone. Maybe on occasion, Anna Schmidt will roll her eyes when it comes. Shes 19 years old now, and its her dad. Again.The text comes twice a day, as reliable as a January freeze in Wisconsin, around 9 oclock.MD, it reads.Brian Schmidt will not relent until he gets a reply.MD, Anna types back.It means she has taken her pills, four in the morning, four at night. Sometimes, her life is moving so fast that it could be easy to forget. But theres no way she could forget. It has become part of who she is.THE LAST TIME we saw Anna Schmidt, she was a 13-year-old with sandy-brown hair and freckles, a pistol of a kid who told Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers that he didnt look so good in a mustache. It was August 2010, five months after her heart transplant, and Make-A-Wish had granted Schmidt her dream, spending a day with the Packers.Anna is from Horicon, Wisconsin, a town of 3,600 that is roughly two hours southwest of Green Bay. On fall Sundays in this area, and pretty much everywhere in Wisconsin, the ritual is the same: eat breakfast, go to church, then camp in front of a TV for the Packers game. The church makes sure that the service is over by the Packers game, Anna says. Literally, Wisconsin is crazy during Packers Sunday. So picking a day with her beloved team seemed like a no-brainer compared to, say, visiting some exotic place. Anna figured shed eventually get the chance to travel when she got older, but when would she ever have another shot at meeting the Packers?When word spread around Horicon that shed be hanging out with the team, the town went nuts. ESPN came to Wisconsin to film that August day as part of its My Wish series, capturing the glee when she met Rodgers and her other favorite player, former Green Bay cornerback Al Harris.The Packers really took to her, especially Rodgers. When he first approached Anna, she was so nervous that she hid behind her brother, Austin. But the awkwardness ended quickly. Throughout practice, Rodgers looked over at her on the sideline and waved.At lunchtime, he gave her a prized possession, the green hat he wears on the sideline when its cold. She loved how Rodgers noticed every little detail about her, even her black-and-pink polka-dotted nail polish.He was just so considerate, she says. Hes a normal guy. He had peanut butter and jelly for lunch. Hes just like me and you.Anna was a seemingly normal seventh-grader in the fall of 2009, healthy enough to play volleyball. Then around November, she started to have stomachaches, followed by a nasty cough. Trips to the doctor yielded nothing suspicious, but the pain intensified and she wound up in the emergency room. Then came the diagnosis, dilated cardiomyopathy.Her heart was enlarged, and it was failing. When medicines didnt work, she underwent a 17-hour surgery to receive an artificial heart pump. It was supposed to be the bridge to an eventual transplant, but the pump gave her blood clots. She suffered a series of strokes, then a brain hemorrhage.Between the strokes and the surgery to open her skull to remove blood from her brain and the wait for a heart, the Schmidts began to lose hope. They prayed that Anna would regain feeling on the right side of her body, that a call would come and shed have a new heart. By this time, she couldnt count anymore or do her ABCs.We didnt think she would make it, her father says.After nearly 70 days on the transplant list, the Schmidts received word that a donor heart had become available. It was late March 2010. Holy Week. Brian and Jean Schmidt did not want to get their hopes up high. Every time they did, it seemed as if another bad thing happened.The heart arrived by Learjet from Memphis. After months of waiting, now everything was moving so fast. As Anna was being wheeled into surgery, she insisted that her dog Max ride along with her. In her worst days, the tiny shih tzu-bichon was the only thing that seemed to help her vital signs and lift her spirits.After the surgery, she almost immediately began to improve. But the recovery process was excruciatingly slow. She took upward of 27 pills a day after she was finally released from the hospital, some of them big enough for a horse. One day, it took two hours to force all the medicine down her throat.The Packers didnt know how badly she needed that My Wish day. By summertime, she was stuck in a depressing slog of hospital visits and white prescription bags. The trip to Green Bay restored her self-esteem. She became sort of a celebrity in town, and people asked for her autograph. The day the My Wish story aired, at least 150 people gathered at the Schmidts house to watch it.I guess right after my transplant, I thought, Oh my gosh. What am I gonna do with my life now? she says. Im just rehabbing, and I dont know what to do. When that event happened ... it gave me a sense of hope. It gave me a sense of life.It showed me that, Hey, I can be a normal kid. I can do these things, and Im going to do these things.SOMEWHERE IN TENNESSEE, Dave Gibson was watching the Monday Night Football game between the Bears and Packers, waiting for Annas My Wish piece to come on at halftime. He had lost his son Luke to a motocross accident six months earlier, and had recently found out that Lukes heart had gone to a girl named Anna Schmidt in Wisconsin. The girl who was on his TV.It made him cry and smile. Luke Gibson was a blond-haired boy who had a lot of friends and always seemed to have a smile on his face. He was born on May 27, 1997, just weeks before Anna.I guess in general, he loved life, Dave Gibson says. Ironically, he was very similar to Annas personality. A lot of spark.A year before he died, Luke talked about being an organ donor because he wanted to help people. His accident happened on a Saturday, during practice for a weekend event in Pontotoc, Mississippi. He was life-flighted to Memphis, where doctors said he had no brain activity and, according to Gibson, no chance.Sometime in that haze of grief, doctors told Lukes parents that a little girl was in dire need of a heart. Gibson doesnt remember all of the particulars, just that she was up north and about Lukes age.Lukes mother, Paula, eventually wrote a letter to the Schmidts through their hospitals. Paula hoped she could someday meet the Schmidts, learn more about Anna, and tell them about Luke. Shortly after Anna started feeling better, she grew curious about whose heart she had. She read Paulas letter, and went on Facebook, where she found someone she thought might be Lukes sister.And I said, like, Hey, I hope that this is the right person, because otherwise this is gonna seem very weird, Anna says. But I may have received your brothers heart.Lukes sister said yes, her brother had died and donated his heart to someone in Wisconsin. Sometime around New Years Day 2011, the families met.Paula asked if she could put a stethoscope up to Annas heart. Sure, she told her. Dave Gibson took her on a motorcycle ride.The families kept in touch, and last year, when Anna graduated, Dave Gibson came to Wisconsin for the ceremony. Luke was supposed to be part of the Class of 15, too, and Dave cried when she got her diploma. It wasnt just Annas graduation. It was Lukes, too.I lost a son, but at the same time, I gained a daughter, he says. And thats how I look at it.EVERY TIME ANNA tried to do something that teenagers do, her dad couldnt stop worrying. He was not crazy about her taking a part-time job scooping ice cream at Culvers when she was in high school, and then she started winning awards for being such a great server. When Schmidt was learning how to drive, Brian was a mess. But once again, she did just fine.Shes the baby, and there are a lot of concerns, he says. She always surprises me.In the fall of 2015, Anna went off to college at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. In some ways, it was liberating. Her classmates no longer knew her as the kid with the heart transplant. She has told only a few of her friends about that part of her life.Its there all the time, though. She sees the 6-inch scar on her chest, and the doctors appointments and tests are a constant reminder. She does not pity herself because she has to endure these things; they remind her of how thankful she is that a little boy, a family, gave her this life.And all of those days being sick did nothing to turn her off to the medical profession. This summer, shes working the night shift as a nurses assistant at a local nursing home. She comes home after a long day, and theres Max, the scruffy-white friend that got her through the worst times. Theres also a nameplate from the Packers locker room hanging over a window in the living room.Schmidt plans to go to medical school after college. She wants to be a cardiologist. She remembers how the doctors and nurses took care of her, and how her heart doctor, Steven Zangwill, inspired her. I want to be just like the people who helped me and saved my life, she says.Med school is a daunting task for anyone, much less a teenager dealing with the aftermath of a heart transplant. Her parents, of course, worry about her. But Schmidt is unfazed. She has been through worse.I believe that if you are passionate about something, you can do anything, she says.The skys the limit.Wholesale NHL Jerseys 2020 . "Theyve both been real good," said Babcock. "Havent changed our minds." A decision has seemingly been made - Sundays Group B-deciding tilt against Finland ahead - but it could not have been an easy one. Price opened the tournament with a sturdy 19-save performance against the Norwegians, yielding just one goal. NHL Jerseys 2020 Store . The native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., captured a World Cup downhill event Saturday, his second this year and fifth career victory on the circuit. https://www.nhljerseys2020.com/ . The giant slalom world champion slipped during her first run in the morning, landing on her back and then twisting forward before getting her leg caught in the protective material on the side of the slope. Adidas NHL Jerseys 2020 . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic . After Martin Skrtel put the Reds in front from close range at Stamford Bridge after only four minutes, Hazard hit back in the 17th with a superb strike. Etoo gave Jose Mourinhos team a decisive lead from Oscars back pass in the 34th.WASHINGTON -- Nationals Park is very familiar to San Diegos Edwin Jackson, who is slated to start here on Saturday against the Washington Nationals.The veteran right-hander has perhaps discovered the fountain of youth as he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of his start on Sunday against the San Francisco Giants. It was his first appearance with the Padres this season after he was signed by the team last month.I was able to mix it up, Jackson said Friday, standing in the San Diego clubhouse. I didnt feel like I came out of the gates with my best stuff. I was able to get out of jams by keeping the ball down. Anytime I can get some groundballs it is good for me.Jackson, who had a 5.91 ERA in eight games with the Miami Marlins earlier this year, pitched for the Nationals in 2012 and has a 3.26 ERA in 20 games at Nationals Park in his career.It is always fun to come back, especially after that run we had in 2012 with a division title, he said.He was 10-11 with a 4.03 ERA in 31 starts in his one season in Washington.I dont know if I have an advantage or disadvantage, Jackson said of facing his former team. At the end of the day it is about execution. I know them, they know me. It is about getting the job done.One of the new faces with the Nationals is infielder Daniel Murphy, who signed with the team as a free agent after playing last season with the New York Mets.Murphy is hitting .250 with a homer in 20 at-bats against Jackson. Another Washington player with a track record against Jackson is reserve outfielder Chris Heisey, who is hitting .091 in 11 at-bats.Jackson will be opposed by Washington right-hander Max Scherzer, who has a 1.61 ERA with 81 strikeouts and 13 walks in 61 1/3 innings in his last nine starts.ddddddddddddHe has held San Diego outfielder Matt Kemp to an average of .091 in 11 at-bats, though Kemp had two homers in a 5-3 win Friday.Scherzer may want to be careful with San Diego All-Star first baseman Wil Myers, who has two homers and four hits in six at-bats against Scherzer.Myers was not in the starting lineup Friday but first-year San Diego manager Andy Green said he planned to have Myers start against Scherzer.Alexei Ramirez has 42 at-bats in his career against Scherzer but an average of .143.When the teams met in San Diego last month Scherzer did figure in the decision in a 7-3 loss June 18 to the Padres. Scherzer went six innings in that game and allowed one run.In his last start on Sunday, Scherzer allowed one run and did not figure in the decision as the Nationals lost 2-1 to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 18 innings. I am not going to beat myself up, Scherzer said after that game.The Nationals won the first two games in San Diego last month then lost the next two to begin a seven-game slide.They started us on our downhill, seven-game losing streak, Washington manager Dusty Baker said. They are a scrappy team. That is what I remember. Was it them or was it us?Besides Jackson the Padres have two other pitchers with ties to the Nationals and another with a tie to the region.Lefty reliever Matt Thornton pitched for Washington last year and lefty Ryan Buchter was drafted in the 33rd round in 2005 by the Nationals. San Diego right-hander Paul Clemens graduated from Robinson High in Fairfax, Virginia, about 25 miles from the nations capital. ' ' '