Support Alaijah Spencer's Heart Transplant Recovery

Alaijah Spencer is a 20-year-old from Toledo, Ohio. In October, during her second year of pursuing her passion for art at Eastern Michigan University, she unexpectedly became very sick. These symptoms included being so fatigued that she couldn't go to class, go downstairs to get food, or even climb up onto her lofted bed to comfortably sleep.

After a few weeks of dealing with these symptoms, she started coughing up blood and decided to go to the ER. They found out she had blood clots in her lungs and fluid around her heart, which were signs of early-stage heart failure. While in the hospital getting treated, she had several strokes (at the age of 19).

Alaijah had to drop out of university and was in and out of the hospital trying different treatments, though nothing was working. After a few months, the doctors determined that she was actually in end-stage heart failure and needed an LVAD pump. A few days later, they unexpectedly said that she required a heart transplant as soon as possible instead of the LVAD. After going through surgery to be hooked up to an ECMO machine, Alaijah was immediately put as top priority for a heart transplant in the Midwest region.

While on the transplant waitlist much longer than the doctors anticipated, she started having complications with the ECMO and required emergency surgery to get it removed. Due to the removal of the ECMO and the fact that there still isn't a heart lined up yet, she had to get another surgery to implant the LVAD pump.

After several complications and being placed on and off the waitlist, Alaijah was finally able to receive the heart she desperately needed and is currently in recovery!!

Please help support Alaijah and her loving family navigate her rapid decline in health by helping them cover any supplies and aid they might need. We are trying to get her back to living her life as a normal 20-year-old who wants to get healthy and back to school.

Any support would help cover:

Any medical supplies, such as anti-rejection medications

Time and supplies to make home life more comfortable during recovery

Medical aid (Alaijah will need 24-hour monitoring upon returning home from the heart transplant surgery)

Cleaning supplies to ensure home life is sterile due to immunosuppressant medication