Jovie's HLHS Diagnosis
Donation protected
We are Josh and Jennifer Stultz. We were both born and raised in Northwest Iowa, mainly around Sioux City. We are both veterans that have been members of the 185th ARW Iowa Air National Guard. Jennifer served from 2005 until 2011 and Josh retired from the ANG in December of 2015. We have both been deployed into dangerous locations around the world. However, none of those deployments were anywhere near as scary as what we are going through right now.
In April 2014 our son, Jeremiah, was born. Our world soon came crashing down! When he was 2 days old we found out that he had a congenital heart defect and would require surgery when he was just 15 days old.
In Aug. of this year, we learned that our 2nd child, our daughter Jovie, due in December, will also be born with a congenital heart defect. This defect however is much worse than her brother's. She has hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). This means that the left side of her heart is under/not developed and will not work. This will require 3 open heart surgeries and countless other procedures to keep her alive.
Her first procedure will be within minutes of birth and then she will be immediately transferred to Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Her first open heart surgery will be within days of arrival at ACH. Once she has recovered from her surgery, after about 2 months, we will finally get to bring our little girl home.
Her second open heart surgery will be at 3 to 6 months of age. The third will be between 18 and 36 months. Once the 3 step process is complete, she will rely on the right side of her heart to do the work of the left. At some point the right side of her heart will quit working and she will require a heart transplant.
Although we have insurance, the expenses will be substantial. As well as the time we will need to take off work to be at the hospital with her. While we both work very hard to support our family, we know and fear that these expenses will be overwhelming.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Josh, Jennifer, Jeremiah, and especially Jovie
In April 2014 our son, Jeremiah, was born. Our world soon came crashing down! When he was 2 days old we found out that he had a congenital heart defect and would require surgery when he was just 15 days old.
In Aug. of this year, we learned that our 2nd child, our daughter Jovie, due in December, will also be born with a congenital heart defect. This defect however is much worse than her brother's. She has hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). This means that the left side of her heart is under/not developed and will not work. This will require 3 open heart surgeries and countless other procedures to keep her alive.
Her first procedure will be within minutes of birth and then she will be immediately transferred to Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Her first open heart surgery will be within days of arrival at ACH. Once she has recovered from her surgery, after about 2 months, we will finally get to bring our little girl home.
Her second open heart surgery will be at 3 to 6 months of age. The third will be between 18 and 36 months. Once the 3 step process is complete, she will rely on the right side of her heart to do the work of the left. At some point the right side of her heart will quit working and she will require a heart transplant.
Although we have insurance, the expenses will be substantial. As well as the time we will need to take off work to be at the hospital with her. While we both work very hard to support our family, we know and fear that these expenses will be overwhelming.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Josh, Jennifer, Jeremiah, and especially Jovie
Organizer
Josh Stultz
Organizer
Hensley, AR
