Hello friends, family, and all who may view this cause. My name is Dawn Jones. This gofundme is an outreach to friends, family, and the community at-large regarding my son, David. As some of you know, David is recovering from a heart transplant.

David’s Heart Condition

David was born with multiple heart defects: Tricuspid Atresia, single ventricle, dextrocardia, and transposition of the great vessels. Additionally David was born with Asplenia (the absence of a spleen). These various diagnoses led to David living a very difficult and dangerous existence due to the shortness of breath, fatigue, tachycardia (fast heart rate), and heart palpitations.

Heart Transplant

Within the prior two years, David’s condition began to take a turn for the worst. The heart palpitations were becoming life-threatening and the many medicines he was taking were becoming ineffective. Three of the best hospitals in the Chicagoland area are Rush University, Northwestern University, and the University of Chicago (UC); all determined David’s only life saving option would be a heart transplant. They all decided David needed a heart transplant, as they saw medications were no longer able to control the heart’s rhythm.

David was first evaluated for transplant at Northwestern and was denied because of the risks of survivability. We were told we would have to relocate out of town for a year or more to find a hospital and transplant team that would risk the surgery. Northwestern reached out to UC to determine their willingness and ability to undertake David’s surgery. Thank God for Dr. Valluvan Jeevanandam and his team at UC, and their willingness to undergo this complicated operation. Dr. Jeevanandam and his team successfully completed (what he described as) the most difficult and complicated transplant of his career.

Our eternal gratitude is to that team of medical professionals for saving David’s life. We also want to express our gratitude and our deepest condolences to the donor’s family; it was their great sacrifice that gave my son a new lease on life. Even though the heart transplant was a success, David was not out of the woods. Not by a long shot.

Complications

David’s heart condition and medications had placed a strain on other organs. Additionally, complications arose from the transplant surgery:

• The heart-lung machine used did not supply adequate blood and oxygen to all of his extremities; as a result, he had his left leg amputated at the knee
• His kidneys have shut down and now he needs a kidney transplant

Next Steps

Why wait until now to share our story? It took time to convince David to allow a gofundme to be set up because of his well-known attempt to be independent. And yes, family has been helpful. But our family is not wealthy, and they have issues of their own. I need additional help with David’s needs. When you face financial obstacles and setbacks you realize you cannot do this alone. It has taken a while for me to embrace the old saying “many hands make light work.”

I am planning for David to go to rehab and be fitted with a prothesis, which will allow him to walk again. We are also looking for willing kidney donors. We pray that you would consider donating to help with expenses related to David’s recovery. We appreciate all prayers, thoughts, kind words, and donations provided for this cause. Thank You, and may God bless you.