Hi! My name is Angela Marie Frank, and a new \u201cadult\u201d who just turned 18.\u00a0 Although I am now 18, I\u2019m still a child to most and in my heart.\u00a0 That being said, doesn\u2019t mean that I am not mindful to my responsibilities, whether it\u2019s taking my medicine, caring for my seven pets, or like most, going to work and school.\u00a0 I love to do nails, play video games on my PC or Xbox, listen to Taylor Swift, or simply sleeping with all my pets in my mom\u2019s bed.\u00a0 Now that you know a little about me, here is my story on why I need your help and have reached out to COTA.\u00a0 I have Dilated Cardiomyopathy and Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome.\u00a0 These two diagnoses cause my heart to be enlarged and the wiring within my heart to be a little haywire, which means I get extra beats than everyone else and I can feel them.\u00a0 My mom and I have had to travel 45 minutes to 3 hours so that I can see the best doctors that specialize in my diagnoses. Not everyone is as lucky as I am when it comes to a mom.\u00a0 My mom puts everything into helping, understanding, and learning about me, my care, and what my condition means for me in the long run.\u00a0 She hates to miss an appointment, that\u2019s why she\u2019s only ever missed one.\u00a0 I was adopted from Guatemala, which means we don\u2019t know if my condition was genetic or not.\u00a0 She was very surprised when she learned her new baby girl at 7 months old had a health condition that could end up to be fatal, but since then she\u2019s morphed her life around being able to be a great mom and caretaker.\u00a0 I\u2019d like to ask you for your help in donating to COTA in my honor so I can continue to get the best care and have my mom there for all steps of my journey.\u00a0 She\u2019s my rock and my support system, and traveling these days, as we all know, is EXPENSIVE.\u00a0 I have a major heart surgery (LVAD) coming up which means she will have to miss work and be with me and when she is not with me, she\u2019ll be at home 3 hours away to take care of our home and our pets.\u00a0 The traveling back and forth costs will add up, and COTA will assist with transplant-related expenses like these. Whether you can donate to COTA in my honor or share my story, I would greatly appreciate it.\u00a0 I may not have a tree that grows money, but I do have the best doctors and support system there is.\u00a0 Thank you for taking a look into my journey and keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Children\u2019s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) helps children and young adults who need a life-saving transplant by providing fundraising assistance and family support. COTA is the nation\u2019s only fundraising organization solely dedicated to raising life-saving dollars in honor of transplant-needy children and young adults. 100% of each contribution made to COTA in honor of our patients helps meet transplant-related expenses. COTA\u2019s services are free to our families, and gifts to COTA are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hi! My name is Angela Marie Frank, and a new \u201cadult\u201d who just turned 18.\u00a0 Although I am now 18, I\u2019m still a child to most and in my heart.\u00a0 That being said, doesn\u2019t mean that I am not mindful to my responsibilities, whether it\u2019s taking my medicine, caring for my seven pets, or like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":83,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n