I'm Jayden. I'm the oldest of Niki/Nik's kids. 2 weeks ago I thought I was going to lose my Mom. Not only lose her forever but also plan her burial, memorial, and become my sister Gracelyn's guardian.

We're all too young to not have our Mom.

Please read her story and donate to help us get by these next few months until she can get back to work full time.

Saturday July 12th everything went dark real fast. My 8 & 10 yo saw my feet on the ground, around the corner but were too scared to check on me. They called their 15 yo sister in the other room who found me unresponsive. 911 was called & I was taken to the ER. Monitors & blood tests showed Troponin (heart muscle damage) & prolonged QT’s up to 611. My second ambulance ride for the day took me to Banner Heart in Mesa. 6 yrs ago, I went into Cardiac arrest which is the first time I heard the term “prolonged QT’s”. I was told there is no cure & I’m a ticking time bomb. After walking around terrified of my own self for months I decided if I’m meant to die then that’s Gods plan for me. There’s no point in worrying about it. My prolonged QT’s lay dormant for 6 yrs but came back making sure I knew what it felt like to be so called “lucky”. All 4 of my kids visited me at Banner Heart & within 10 minutes of them leaving and 20 hours after them finding me unresponsive in our home I went into cardiac arrest again. One for sure thing I know is, that it’s far scarier coming back alive than it is dying. I’d rather die. As fast as that black hole takes me, it shoots me right back thru it in a fight or flight stage, unable to breath, unable to get to safety, unable to open my eyes & unable to comprehend what the fuck is happening.

From that moment on I had 3 people in my room every hour, an alarm on my bed so I couldn’t leave it, cardiac diet, constant blood draws, pills, IV bags & vitals checked. Surgery was a must but first they had to rule everything out. I had a CT scan of my brain & heart, with & without contrast. The contrast ended up exploding in the IV & all over my hair. The vein blew & the catheter shot into my arm. An ultrasound of my heart showed scar tissue around my heart & an MRI showed no blockage which meant my heart condition is genetic. My heart was pacing between 30-40 & my blood pressure was 108

My prolonged QT’s are called Torsade de Pointes & it’s by the Grace of God that I was able to come out of them on my own. Most don’t.

Surgery was set for July 15th. A pacemaker would be set to 70 & a defibrillator would be put in place to shock me back to life. A beta blocker would increase my survival rate & reduce hospitalization. A heart monitor next to my bed would send constant reports to my doctors so hopefully they can catch my heart going into Torsades before it actually does. Surgery went great other than me continuing to wake up during it, feeling the scalpel cutting into my chest. The physical healing will take no time at all but the mental & financial are going to be the hardest. I’m on a LOA from work & in the middle of a contentious divorce. I get zero support from the father of my children & I don’t have insurance. My kids & I would be forever grateful for any support you can give us.