Today
by Amanda Brodeur, Organizer
"Mentally I am not ready to share this update with everyone as we are still trying to process and accept this. But I feel that it's only fair to keep our friends and family in the loop considering the severity of this situation. After almost 50 days in the hospital with no answers, DJ was finally seen by some of the best cardiac specialists last week. After running countless tests and scans we learned that DJ is now in severe end stage heart failure, meaning that he is going to need a heart transplant to live. On top of the heart failure his heart is extremely swollen and dilated. Which puts him at high risk of cardiac arrest etc. The good news is that he went through all the testing to be put on the transplant list and passed with flying colors since he's young and healthy aside from the heart failure. With that being said he was accepted to be a candidate for heart transplant. The bad news is that the transplant board will not actively list him due to his vaccination status. Now I know this is a touchy subject for everyone, but let me explain this for the people that don't understand the issue with this. The vaccine typically causes swelling in the heart (usually temporary for most people no big deal right?) But in DJs case he can NOT afford for his heart to swell any more than it already is right now. He is at extremely high risk of sudden death if it does. We have had many conversations with the doctors, who confirmed that his heart COULD swell and go into severe crisis but they can't guarantee anything and it's a choice we will have to make if he wants to be listed. Two nights ago DJs vitals started to crash out of no where and they had to insert an emergency heart pump. This pump is essentially assisting his heart to pump 24/7 but it's usually only effective for about two weeks. When you're on this particular heart pump it pushes you to the top of the transplant list. Which we currently are not active on. Today DJs heart went into another serious episode and his labs are showing the beginning signs of cardiac shock. On Tuesday he will be getting an emergency open heart surgery to have an LVAD pump put in- this is the soonest they can get him into the OR. This pump will mechanically pump his heart until a donor heart becomes available. These pumps are used in temporary measures until someone is able to get a transplant and there's no saying how long it will last because it's different for everyone. We are literally in a corner right now. This is extremely time sensitive. We're being pressured to choose a shot that could kill him. This is not just a political issue. People need to have a choice! People need to realize that there ARE others out there that are at high risk while receiving this shot, and it COULD kill them. Unless you've been in this exact situation, your opinions are irrelevant. Please have some respect for my family. 60 days ago we were under the impression that DJ had pneumonia, and now he's desperately in need of a heart transplant. We are devastated. We can't even process this. I haven't even found the courage to sit down with my son and explain what is happening to his father. I can not even start to describe the pain we are all going through. Lastly, I want to add that despite the decision of the transplant board, he is in the best place possible. His nurses and doctors have been nothing but compassionate and amazing to him. Please keep him in your thoughts as he undergoes this first open heart surgery. The recovery from this pump is brutal and it's going to be life changing physically and emotionally. We are all rooting for you. You've got this❤"
https://www.gofundme.com/f/dj-heathers-relief-fund
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