John's Heart Transplant Journey!

Hello! My name is Alex, and in 2020 I met my now-husband John Whiteside.

He was very up front with me regarding his medical history when we met and where the future may take us, and now in the Summer of 2024 he is awaiting a Heart Transplant.

Let's start at the beginning:

John was born in 1992 with a rare heart defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. This condition causes the left side of the heart to be extremely underdeveloped, resulting in the inability to distribute oxygen-rich blood to the vital organs and the rest of the body. When he was born, the best option for an increased chance of survival was to undergo 3 open heart surgeries called the Norwood Procedure over the course of 3 years at SickKids Hospital in Toronto.

The surgeries proved to be a success, as throughout the rest of his childhood and early into his adulthood he was able to live a relatively normal life. He was still able to participate in organised sports, regularly attend school, as well as graduate from college and have a career as a Licensed Pharmacy Technician!

In 2018, he faced a major setback in his cardiac health when he was hospitalized at Toronto General Hospital with Bacterial Endocarditis. Because of his cardiac history, as well as the severity of the infection, it was at this time that discussions about surgical intervention started. It was determined in those discussions that the only possible option would be to explore starting the assessment for heart transplantation, if he recovered from the endocarditis. In the following months, he made a "remarkable clinical recovery" (pulled straight from the hospital’s notes! He’s a fighter!) and was able to return to work part-time, resume his still relatively normal life, and continued monitoring for any changes during outpatient appointments with his cardiologist, Dr. Lucy Roche.

It was also because of this remarkable clinical recovery that he was able to stick around a little longer for me to be lucky enough to have met him. We quickly became best friends, fell in love, moved in together in June of 2022 and on August 2nd, 2024 we got married!

In December of 2023, after a discussion with Dr. Roche, we decided it was time to start the assessment for transplant due to worsening symptoms of heart failure, as well as an extremely enlarged aorta which poses other risks in itself. Over the last 8 months, he’s gone through numerous tests, appointments with various specialists, and had a 4-week hospital stay, all to determine if he could still be a candidate for transplant. He is now off work to rest while he awaits the transplant, as we were told to expect the possibility he will be admitted for a majority of the wait, which the doctors are saying could be 6-12 months. He will then have a long road to recovery after the transplant has taken place. I will also be off work for a period of time after the surgery until he is able to be safely home alone unassisted.

During this time, he will be able to collect various benefits, but it is still only a fraction of the income we were making as a household while he was able to work. This obviously will continue to cause financial strain, and will continue for a few years before he is able to get back to normal and return to work.

Any donations made will go towards travel to and from Toronto General Hospital, potential short-term housing closer to Toronto, extra care pre- and post-transplant, as well as any other unexpected costs that may arise. Any amount is much appreciated, and even just sharing our fundraiser will help so much!

We have opened a separate savings account specifically for medical expenses, and all money will be directly deposited there.

If you would prefer to donate outside of GoFundMe, e-transfers can be accepted to that account. Please feel free to reach out to us if you would prefer this method of donation.

We will be updating this page with the most important updates as well, so please feel free to follow along on the journey!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

-John & Alex Whiteside