Heart Transplant Recovery Fund
To all our family and friends,
We are reaching out and asking for help for a great guy who is about to under go a heart transplant. Most of you already know what an amazing friend and father J Roper is (Jay, JT or JJ depednnding on where you know him from), and for those of you that don't, it will be hard to put into words how great he is. I have not met a single person that has anything bad to say about this man. He makes friends with anyone he comes in contact with. He always has a smile on his face even when he is not feeling well. He is always upbeat and cracking jokes.
J is a single father to a beautiful little eight year old girl named Brianna. She is the center of his world and everything J does is with her in mind. He is very involved with everything she does, from school to sports and extra all her extra curricular activities. Brianna is and always will be a "daddy's girl" and it warms your heart to watch them interact.
On to the reason behind this page... J was diagnosed with Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy. He has lived with this disease for over 20 years and has been told by numerous doctors that they are amazed he has made it this long without a transplant. Dilated Cardiomyopathy occurs in approximately five to eight people per 100,000 and is the most common reason for heart transplantation. Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a disease of the heart muscle in which the heart chambers become enlarged or dilated. The heart muscle is weakened, making it more difficult for blood to flow from the body and lungs into the heart and for blood to be pumped from the heart to the rest of the body. J has done everything he could to put off the surgery, from changing his diet to increasing his physical activity, but the time has come and his heart can't fight anymore.
J expectantly took a turn for the worst and was hospitalized at Stanford Hospital. The doctors have decided that it is time for J to be on the heart transplant list. It sounds like J will could stay there until a heart comes available. If a heart is not available by Monday (3-26-12), because of his rapidly declining health they will have to to the Left Ventricular Assist Device or LVAD. The LVAD is a temporary fix to maintain J's heart until a suitable donor becomes available. The LVAD will "buy time" for lack of a better term. After the transplant surgery, J will be required to live within 20 minutes of the hospital and will be required to have someone with him 24 hours a day for a minimum of 3 months. There is housing available but the cost ranges from $25-$100 dollars a day. That does not include food and or transportation to and from doctors appointments and the cost of gas and toll fees for his friends and family that are sharing the responsibility of being by his side 24 hours a day. The LVAD has substantially less involved time wise however similar follow up is required as the transplant and a transplant will still be neccesary down the road.
We are asking that everyone keep J, Brianna and the others close to him in your thoughts and prayers and if you can donate anything to take the financial burden off of this family during this trying time it would be appreciated. J is truly deserving and would give his last dollar if a friend needed it.
