Hello,

My name is Justin Gene Hess. I am a 15-month-old that was born two months premature and was diagnosed with TGA (transposition of the great arteries), but before I get in to all of that, let me tell you how I came about….
My mommy’s name is Nadine, and she has polycystic ovaries and is a diabetic. Her doctors told her that she wasn’t ever going to be able to have children. My mommy was so sad, as all of my aunts and uncles have my cousins.
She had a hard time accepting the fact that she wouldn’t be able to conceive children.
So one night she prayed to the lord and asked him to send her a man that would never leave her… And God sent me!
My mommy was a semi driver, and she would come home every 5 days, and well…let’s just say she had lots of fun with my daddy Jeremy.
Mommy was feeling very tired being on the road and decided to come home and work locally.
During that time mommy continued to feel tired and just not herself…she had weird cravings (popcorn and ranch dip and carrots…my fave), but mommy didn’t realize that I was the one hungry for all of that yummy food.
Mommy went to the doctors to get a checkup because she and my daddy thought that she had ovarian cancer. (Nope, it was me!)
Mommy’s doctor did a pelvic examination, but NOT a pregnancy test like she should have, and did not discover that I was there, instead she thought my mommy had fibroid cysts.
She scheduled a pelvic ultrasound, and she made my aunt Shannon go with her because she was so scared.
The tech poked me in the head with the wand, and asked mommy if she was sure that there was no pregnancy test taken, my mommy chuckled and said “why, am I pregnant”? The tech looked at her with huge eyes and said “uh huh”. My mommy cried, aunt Shannon laughed with joy!
I was found at 6mo and 5 days gestation, wow huh?
My mommy had very bad preeclampsia, and exactly one month later, I was born via emergency c-section to save both of our lives.
My heartbeat was very strong, and I came out at 3lbs 7oz. Then four days later the nurse found a heart murmur and they did an echo on me and found that I had TGA…they said I shouldn’t have survived…but god had a different plan.
Mommy was discharged that very day, and I was taken to children’s hospital.
The doctors informed my parents and aunt of what was going on with me and how I had a slim chance of surviving…my mommy cried as did my dad and aunt. But they didn’t give up on me.
My mommy told them that they weren’t God and that I WILL survive this…and here I am!!
My mommy and daddy were with me every day and always encouraged me.
I had a hard time gaining weight and breathing. The doctors discovered that my right-side diaphragm was paralyzed, so they had to do a diaphragm placation. I was a month old at that time of surgery… it helped, but just a little.
Then at just a little over a month old, I had to have a balloon put through my heart in the septum to make the hole bigger and to keep it open, because that’s what saved me until I could gain enough weight to have the transverse surgery.
So I took my sweet time gaining weight, because I like to go at my own pace…(my mommy needed to learn patience anyway), so I did what God told me to do.
I was in NICU for 5 months, then I had to be transferred to the CICU because my heart started acting funnier than normal. That’s when the doctors told my mommy and daddy that my heart was hardening and thickening and they were afraid to do the original surgery because they were afraid that my heart wouldn’t work again.
So they did a genetic test to see if I had something hereditary that caused my heart to harden and thicken the way it did; my mommy told them that I didn’t and she was right!!
The doctors have seen hardening and thickening and TGA, but not all at once…they didn’t know what to do.
The doctors did all kinds of research to find out what to do for me. The bottom line was either to make me as comfortable as possible until I go with God again or possibly a heart transplant…God answered my mommy and daddy, and all of my family and friends’ prayers!! I was eligible as a candidate for a heart transplant.
I’ve spent 14 months in the hospital, 7 of those months were waiting for a heart.
On the day I was well enough to go home, my doctors received a call 15 minutes before we left the hospital and said that I had a Donor…. God kept us there for a reason and my mommy and daddy were so happy and frightened at the same time, but I knew I would be ok.
I received my wonderful new heart on 6-27-20.
I was able to come home a month after that…I’ve now been home for 4 weeks. I have my mommy and daddy all to myself.
There’s so much more in between, but I think I’ve spoken enough, thank you for reading my story!!

Love, Justin Gene Hess

The Children’s 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’s 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’s services are free to our families, and gifts to COTA are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.