Fundraiser for Supporting the Serre Family!
Hello there! My name is Cameron (not in the picture above) and this a fundraiser to support the Serre family! (They're the ones in the picture). Below is our story as to who this fundraiser is for, why it's happening, and how your donations will help this family.
Who are you and what's the story behind this fundraiser? I am a youth group leader for my church in Boise, ID. Jacob Serre (furthest right in the picture) is one of my students who is currently receiving medical treatment for his heart. Jacob was diagnosed with Dilated Cardiomyopathy at 3 months old. This basically means that the left ventricle of his heart is enlarged which causes his heart not to pump correctly, causing Congestive Heart Failure. Jacob spent time in the hospital as an infant but has been relatively stable for the last 10 years. However, in just this past January he started getting some increased heart failure symptoms, and that’s when Jacob and his family found out his Mitral Valve (the valve between the left ventricle and left atrium) was severely leaking. For about 6 weeks they worked closely with his cardiologist, tweaking his meds and monitoring his heart. He seemed to be getting better, but then Jacob went to the ER late February when he was having severe chest pain. At that time he was admitted in cardiogenic shock. He was in PICU for 7 days, then in a regular room for 3 days. He seemed stable enough to go home, but about 12 hours after going home the chest pain returned. The family's local doctors said there isn’t anything else they can do to manage his condition, so Jacob was admitted back in to PICU where they are awaiting a transfer to Stanford. This is where they can do a cardiac catheterization to get a better look at his heart from the inside, and offer a higher level of care since they have heart failure specialists. Basically without the IV meds, Jacob's heart is failing, and his valve is leaking severely. The catheterization results will tell us a lot: If the results are good then Jacob may just need to find a better medication plan that will work to get him off the IV meds. Also, the family may need to address his valve leak possibly with heart surgery. But if the catheterization results don’t come back good, Jacob's family may have to meet with the transplant team to discuss options.
Jacob and his mother, Jinjue, will be traveling to Stanford together for advanced treatment. It is unknown how long they will remain there; it could take anywhere from 1-2 weeks to even longer, depending on the results of the catheterization results and what happens next.
3/28 UPDATE: The reality of Jacob receiving a heart transplant is becoming more and more likely. More details in the CaringBridge link below.
Where will the donated funds go? Since Jinjue will be traveling with Jacob, this leaves her husband Andrew with Jacob's 3 siblings to take care of them. Andrew has already used PTO from work to stay home with the kids, and now he is working slightly under full-time in order to spend more time with them. The money raised through this fundraiser would help support day-to-day expenses for Andrew and the other kids (groceries, gas, other basic needs, etc). It would also help cover meal expenses for Jinjue while she's away with Jacob. In the event that Andrew and the other kids need to travel to Stanford in the future, funds could also be used to help cover travel costs.
March 28th is also Jacob's birthday, so it would also be great to use some of the raised funds to get him a birthday gift sent to him!
In case I need to make this extra clear... I, CAMERON, DO NOT BENEFIT FROM OR RECEIVE ANY RAISED MONEY WHATSOEVER.
How long is this GoFundMe going for? This fundraiser will be active from Tuesday, March 16th until Friday, April 2nd.
Updates and details on Jacob's treatment can be found here and is regularly updated by Jinjue: www.caringbridge.org/visit/jacobserre/journal
So from me and on behalf of the Serre family, thank you so much in advance for donating!