Help Gage Receive Stem Cell Treatment

Hello, my name is Jess, and I am starting a fundraiser to raise money for my brother, Gage. Gage was born with a congenital heart defect and has had several surgeries to extend and improve his quality of life. When he was a year old, he had already had two open heart surgeries, he coded twice during the second procedure, but his doctors were able to stabilize him. Again at age 16, he had open heart surgery to be given a pacemaker and spent a week in the ICU. Gage's defect and surgeries have left him with a two-chamber heart rather than four. Therefore, his blood goes to his heart, lungs and then to his organs. He doesn't have the double pump typical of a healthy heart. Gage's survival has been a miracle, and we are grateful for every moment we have with him.

As Gage has gotten older his services have become more difficult to find. He aged out of the Children's hospital and didn't qualify for any assistance, nor would any hospital accept his insurance. We exhausted all options. Gage works full-time and has marketplace insurance that his specialists will not take. Ultimately, Gage did not get treatment for two years, and his pacemaker’s battery was tiring out.

We finally went to UT Southwestern in Dallas. They found him a specialist who is doing all they can to help with his care. However, much to our surprise, he was given an unexpected life expectancy of 30-40 years old. He is currently 29. Due to the pressure on his organs, his condition is causing liver damage. Gage does not drink and has never been a heavy drinker; his liver is damaged solely due to his heart. As other adult clients with his condition begin to have liver damage, many develop liver cancer and tend to decline rapidly. Gage was told he would need a heart and liver transplant, but he won't be placed on the list without proper insurance and still may not be accepted due to his condition. So, we began searching for other options and prophylactic treatments to buy him some time.

Through lots of research and contacting several individuals and clinics, we feel stem cells are a good option. Not necessarily for his heart but for general health improvement, potentially helping improve his heart and liver function. There are no clinical trials for adults with his condition. They offer stem cells to pediatric patients in the US and inject them during open heart procedures. Our only option is to travel out of the country for treatments. He will most likely need more than one treatment but should improve with each procedure. We have found the best hospital capable of transfusing the best cells through research. Each trip will cost about $30,000 for three transfusions over three days.

Gage has a five-year-old daughter and would like to spend as much time with her as possible. He is now on a Gluten free diet, eats no red meat or pork, and little sugar. Please help us raise the funds he will need for his first procedure in November.