Help Support RJ’s Recovery

We are putting this together to help RJ and his family. RJ went in for open-heart surgery on Feb. 20th. The surgery went well, and RJ was discharged about a week later. While at home, Mom and Dad thought something just seemed off. About a week later, a bump started to form at the top of the incision. It was determined that there was air and fluid building up. On March 13th, RJ had to be readmitted to the main campus. There was concern that an infection was causing the air and fluid to build. They made a small incision and applied a wound vac bandage to drain the fluid and air. He had to stay in the hospital for another week while they monitored the wound for infection. At the time, all tests were negative, so he got to go home.

At home, RJ still wasn't acting like himself. He started forming another lump on his incision. After a couple of weeks of back and forth to appointments, they were told, "It's just healing ugly and there’s nothing wrong." Easter weekend, RJ started walking with a limp and not bending his leg. Mom and Dad figured it was his HSP flaring up, so they reached out to RJ's pediatric rheumatologist. During that appointment, this doctor looked at RJ's chest and immediately ordered blood work and urine samples. Based on how RJ's chest looked, he was confident there was an infection. At 8 am the next morning, they were instructed to get RJ back to the hospital ASAP so they could get antibiotics started. RJ was positive for a bacterial infection in his blood. They spent another week at the hospital while the doctors were waiting for the bacteria to grow in the lab. Once the correct antibiotic and dosage were determined, they installed a PICC line so that RJ can continue to receive 6 weeks of antibiotics at home.

Due to the unexpected complications during this time, Mom hasn’t been able to work so she could care for RJ. She will also continue to miss work a day or two a week for doctor’s appointments in the foreseeable future while RJ continues to receive treatment. This missed time from work and the added cost of the additional hospital stays and doctor’s appointments has caused them to fall behind on several major bills. We are hoping to raise money to help them get caught up on bills. Any donations would be greatly appreciated.