Ava's Army

Hi, I'm Jennifer, Mom to the most amazing kid... Princess Ava

I've been hesitant about setting up a GoFundMe account for our family, but after being asked by several people how they could help us out---here it is...

As many of you know, 2022 was a crazy year for us. Ava was admitted to the hospital April 23, 2022, coincidentally that was my last day of work because I stayed with Ava throughout her entire hospitalization.

Ava was transferred to Texas Children's Hospital on May 3, 2022, placed on V-V ECMO May 5th and ultimately received the Gift of Life, a bilateral lung transplant at the tender age of 4 on November 28, 2022. Ava remained in the hospital until March 2023, then we stayed in an apartment in Houston for outpatient therapy and follow-up appointments until her Transplant Team deemed her safe to return home. We FINALLY made it home to Covington on June 3, 2023.

Receiving a lung transplant saved Ava's life but we knew it would be much more to keep her healthy after the fact. Ava is on a strict regimen of anti-rejection medications that she will have to take for the rest of her life. Being only 5 years old, she does an amazing job of taking all her pills and liquid medications by mouth. Although she does have a feeding tube, we've only had to use it for a few weeks with feedings to help her gain weight and at times to keep her hydrated.

Although Ava's new lungs don't have Cystic Fibrosis, the rest of her body does including her sinuses and trachea leading to her new lungs which still produce mucus, leading to Ava having to continue daily breathing treatments and her vest airway clearance therapy. She also has pancreatic insufficiency and is required to take enzymes prior to all meals in order for her body to absorb fat. I am also administering subcutaneous immunoglobulin to Ava once every other Tuesday to help boost her immune system.

We have A LOT going on but Ava is such a resilient, spunky, outgoing, fun-loving little lady! She loves going to her Speech, Occupational, and Physical Therapy appointments 3 times a week! At the same time, I am homeschooling a Kindergartener because Ava is not able to attend school for at least one year post transplant.

Ava is not your typical lung transplant candidate, being so young. But once you meet her and see her spunk, you'd never know she carries another young persons lungs in her body.

We are both extremely thankful to the donor family and yet sad at the same time because someone is in mourning.

We choose to focus on the good in life. John "Daddy" has worked throughout the entire time Ava was hospitalized. He works full time and has throughout the entire time Ava and I were in Texas. It has been quite an adjustment going from a 2 income family to a 1 income family with a medically involved child. We know that at any moment things could go south {But I am an optimist and it's not going to happen} and we would have to travel to Houston in the blink of an eye.

Ava is my new full time job and although it pays well in love, snuggles, and hugs; it doesn't pay financially. If you feel inclined to help our little family out as we navigate through this new way of life, we would appreciate it more than you know.