Cameron Minella’s Heart Transplant

Cameron is an 18-year-old who has just graduated from United Township High School in East Moline, IL. He was born with a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD), which has caused him to be in and out of the hospital since birth. Cameron has underwent numerous (10-15) open-heart surgeries at OSF Saint Francis in Peoria, IL. The past few years his health has really declined and he was officially placed on the Heart Transplant list March 26th 2020 with plans to get a transplant within the year. On September 9th, 2020 Cameron and Jenny, my mom, were making a routine check-up appointment at his current hospital, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, in St. Louis Missouri. They were informed that they should not be expecting to get a call any time soon as it could be awhile due to COVID-19. The next morning, September 10th 2020, at 3:30am my mom got the call that there was a possible heart for Cameron coming from Alabama and that they should be headed down right away. By 4am they were on the road and later that morning Cameron was going through numerous test to get him prepped for the transplant. At 6:45 pm the journey of a 13 hour surgery began as they took him back to the operating room. Around 11:45 pm the surgeon began to dissect Cameron’s old heart and at 1am on September 11th 2020 the new heart arrived at the hospital. By 9:00 am on September 11th 2020 the transplant surgery had wrapped up and they sent Cameron to the ICU.

 

The surgeon said that this was the most difficult transplant surgery and another surgeon had to be called to assist. Due to all of his previous open-heart surgeries, he has a significant amount of scar tissue and everything was fussed together, which made it very hard to cut. They also struggled to close this chest post-transplant so they left him open and covered the incision with a temporary patch. Post-surgery Cameron continuously ran a temperature that got as high as 104 as well as had low blood pressure. Due to Cameron being very critical and very sick they medically paralyzed him and discussed possibilities of putting him on an ECMO heart/lung machine, as well as place him on an ice pad to keep his kidneys, liver, and brain safe and healthy.

 

Friday night was a quiet night as they got his temperature and blood pressure under control but around 3am on September 12th 2020 there were concerns of a possible seizure. The doctors determined that Cameron was just breaking through sedation so they increased it to keep him comfortable. On Saturday, he was able to communicate with us by pen and paper and all he wanted was his breathing tube out. Since they could not close his chest during surgery, they had to keep the breathing tube in. The doctors continued to give him meds to keep his temperature and blood pressure under control and once his temperature stops they will be able to begin the anit-rejection medication. The rejection medication will prevent Cameron’s body from rejecting the new heart. As of Monday September 14th 2020 Cameron was continuing to have trouble with his temp and bpbut the complications were anticipated and with meds he is able to bounce back nicely. At 2:30 they took him back to surgery again to close his chest and hopefully in a day or two they will be able to take out his breathing tube. I will continue to provide updates on Cameron’s recovery.
 

This GoFundMe was created to help with the medical and living expenses my mom will face in the coming months. This surgery and taking time off work has already taken a toll financially. With COVID-19 she was already in a tight spot but now she is planned to be out of work for at least another 12 weeks, unpaid. With only having two weeks of vacation left to be paid out this does not leave our family with much else. I would love for the entire financial burden to be lifted off my family as we focus on Cameron’s recovery but I know that a goal that large is not always attainable. Every dollar will go to support my bother and mom with their needs medically and for living expenses while away from home.  If you are unable to help financially, I ask that you continue to keep Cameron in your prayers on his journey to a new and healthier life!

Thank you! Cameron, Jenny, and Alexis