Matisse Reid Settles into Classroom Routine

It's still considered early days in the saga of Matisse Reid's , but she's crossed another milestone in her quest for a normal routine -- she's started back to school.

Matisse went back to classes at on May 12 and her mother, Jodee Reid, says it's going really well.

"The school staff and students welcomed her back with a lunchtime party and have helped her to fit back in, says Reid. "Going back to school has really helped her to reconnect with her peers and feel more normal."

Matisse was born in New Zealand on Dec. 25, 2000, with a rare bowel condition called chronic idiopathic intestinal pseudo obstruction. Unable to eat, she had to rely on IV feedings to keep her alive. Her condition has no cure, but she underwent an organ transplant in December that gave her the ability to eat food and will help her live a more normal life.

And boy can she eat, says Jodee Reid.

"Matisse’s eating is going from strength to strength, where now it is almost an obsession," says Jodee Reid.  "She is eating really well and makes great food choices for a kid of her age."

Since her transplant, Matisse has become fascinated with cooking as well. She started a cooking blog in February, in part, she writes, to ease the boredom of not being able to go to school. Right now, she's a little busy getting adjusted to her new schedule so she hasn't posted in a couple of weeks, but Jodee Reid says she definitely plans to keep up with the blog and hopes to someday be on the Food Network.

In the meantime, Matisse still has a gastronomy tube that assists her in getting overnight nutrients and hydration, but her family is hopeful that she will need it less and less and eventually be able to stop using it. She also is still plagued by headaches, most likely caused by medication, but she should start to experience fewer side-effects once her doses are reduced, her mother says.

Jodee Reid has been chronicling the family's journey from New Zealand to the transplant at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC in an online journal. Reading the journal is heart-wrenching and uplifting, especially her passages about her decision to send Matisse back to school, despite the threat posed by germs there. Anti-rejection medication taken by transplant patients also may make them more susceptible to infection.

Jodee Reid was influenced greatly by the deaths of two young women in the transplant program. She had become close with their mothers, and she was devastated when the two girls died within hours of each other. It also gave her clarity. As she writes:

A few weeks ago we started asking about returning to school but due to her rejection and the medication she was on  thought it was best to wait until next school year.  However, after Pauline passing I realized that we do not know what tomorrow will hold.  I spoke again to the transplant team who agreed -- Matisse needs to burn off the extra energy, which may encourage her to eat more and at some point she needs to be exposed to the world.