Good evening! Thank you for continuing to follow Jeremiah on his heart transplant journey. We appreciate all of you. 

Jeremiah has been in the hospital for two weeks. What started out as an ER visit to get his PICC line fixed has turned into plans for placement of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD). The progression of his heart failure is that his heartbeat is more irregular than ever, putting him at risk for a life-threatening arrhythmia. 

The LVAD Is implanted by open heart surgery and it will do most of the work of pumping blood for him until he can get a donor heart that matches him perfectly. For those that want more info, look up the HeartMate 3. Surgery is planned for Monday, September 26, 7 AM. They expect it to take 6-8 hours. Jeremiah is considered complex and high-risk due to previous surgeries and scarring, unique anatomy, multiple blocked or narrowed major vessels, and the weakened state of his heart. The team here have thoroughly prepared us for what will happen during the surgery and the recovery. We are scared, but ready to face it. 

Once he recovers, we will learn to take care of the dressing, the batteries, the equipment and he will be able to go home and continue to wait for a heart transplant. Many people are living with the HeartMate 3 in the community, going to school and work. We are hoping the LVAD will be enough to support him and we can say goodbye to the PICC line and Milrinone, but we shall see.

We thank you for walking this journey with Jeremiah. We appreciate your encouragement and prayers.