This is my nephew Brayden. He will be turning 12 next week. Unfortunately, he won't be celebrating with a party, cake, and fun. He is currently in the hospital on ECMO (a form of life support).

How did we get here, you may ask?

Brayden was born with a rare congenital heart defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). What this means is he was born without the left side of his heart. Over the past 11 years, Brayden has had 3 surgeries and countless hospital stays to help his heart work for his body as long as it can. We knew one day his path would lead to a transplant, but we were not expecting him to go downhill so fast.

Brayden had just had a check-up a few weeks ago, and everything was as it had been at previous appointments. However, last week on Tuesday, April 1, Brayden was complaining of back pain and throwing up. My sister, Lauren, called the cardiologist, and they had her take him for an x-ray, which showed very little fluid. It looked good otherwise. However, before the cardiologist called, Brayden's symptoms worsened. This is when Lauren and the doctor agreed he should come into Dell Children's ER. Over the next 12 hours, Brayden's diagnosis went from pneumonia to Plastic Bronchitis that was blocking his airways. This changed everything. This meant his Fontan, which was his last surgery, is failing. Over the past several days, Brayden has been in and out of the OR to have the Plastic Bronchitis removed, but his body is very sick, and every time the doctors clean it out, more accumulates. His body is having a very hard time supporting him, and the doctors feel it's best to keep him on ECMO for now until there is a clearer path. What we do know is that the transplant team is currently evaluating Brayden to list him for transplant as an inpatient. What this means is this will be a long hospital stay that could be anywhere from 6 months to a year once he is listed.

This is why my sister Reagan and I are starting this GoFundMe for our nephew and sister. As my sister is having to step away from work and their family of 5 goes to 2 in the hospital and 3 at home being turned upside down.