We all knew she had a heart but now she has a better one!

Hi, I’m Cortney, Nickie’s cousin. I have been on this crazy journey helping my aunt for a while. Sometimes you need to lean on friends and family for help, and that’s what I’m doing. My aunt will probably shank me but I’ll deal with that later. Much love to everyone that helps!!

Before Easter we found out that Nickie was in congestive heart failure when she was life flighted from UPMC Altoona to UPMC Presbyterian and needed a heart and double lung transplant. We were shocked to hear this news especially with her only being 44yrs old. Through much testing and set backs, she finally was approved to be on the national transplant list. Days later, her organs started shutting down and she was intubated and sedated, moving her to the top of the transplant list. The tricky thing about this transplant is that the heart and both lungs had to be from the same donor and matching criteria. By the grace of God, on the evening of May 20, the news came that she had a match!! What felt like the speed of light, the transplant team approved all the organs and she was taken into surgery. After 12 long torturous hours, especially for my Aunt, surgery was completed. She will remain in the CT ICU for a while until she becomes more stable.

The nurses, doctors and other staff at UPMC Presby have been nothing short of amazing and continue to be. There is truly no better place for my cousin to be right now and I think that helps my Aunt stay semi-sane and able to sleep at night.

With all of this going on, Nickie’s bills and home still need taken care of which falls a lot on my Aunt. Her cats are being well spoiled at the house by my mom with tuna daily.

Im posting this in hopes of helping my Aunt with travel expenses, bills, treatment that Nickie currently needs since she is not able to work and will not be able to for quite some time.

If you know Nickie at all and also my Aunt, you know both are feisty and fighters. I hope to ease their burden even slightly.