My nephew Jaren Peterson was born in 2005 with a congenital heart defect, hypoplastic right heart syndrome. His right ventricle didn't form.

He had several surgeries to reroute his heart to make it work. The last major surgery he had was at 4 years old, the Fontan. He has had several other procedures over the years, heart catheterizations, etc.

Last October, when he was in for a cath, they took a biopsy of his liver. They found that his liver is in level 4 cirrhosis. This was caused by the Fontan procedure. The way it pumps the blood makes it pool in his liver.

They let us know after the biopsy that he would need to start the evaluation process for a heart transplant. We started the process at the U of M, but they had only done one heart/liver transplant, so we felt it was best to transfer his care to Mayo where they are more specialized in both heart and heart/liver transplants.

On October 27, we start appointments at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. We will be there for 10 days and hopefully have answers about if he needs a heart and liver transplant or just a heart transplant.

Jaren has a long road ahead of him with many medical expenses and time off work for himself and his mother.