This is our newest addition to our family.
He was born August 4th, 2022.
This is RJ’s story.
This was all out of left field for our whole family.
There was nothing to our knowledge that he was sick in any way.
At the time of RJ getting sick about a week after he arrived home, he wasn’t able to keep all his formula down.
At that time, changing formulas was what we thought would fix the problem, & so did his pediatrician.
We never knew or would have ever guessed what was awaiting us in the near future, or knowing that this is the beginning of a new journey & the newest adventure in our lives.
From that moment on our lives will never be the same.
To find out everything we have in these last few months is permanently life changing.
We never knew what we know now.
We never, ever thought any of this would be happening.
So here is a little story for everyone.
RJ’s Heart Journey is what we’re going to call it.

Hi, my name is RJ. I’m a little over 2 months old now. I was almost a month old when everything happened to me. On August 28th, we were on our way to our family reunion. Mommy noticed I was making a different noise then I usually make. At first she thought nothing of it. Thought I was just making new sounds. When we arrived to the park where the reunion was being held, my parents noticed I wasn’t breathing very well, that I looked pale, & felt clammy, sweaty, and cold to the touch. My mommy and daddy rushed me to the nearest hospital at the time, which was Alliance. From there Akron Children’s came down & took us to their hospital. They did lots of tests on me & when one came back they found out that my heart is severely sick. They had to send me up to Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital, right after they found all this information out. It’s a few hours from my house. I have 3 brothers and a sister. My mommy has stayed with me the whole time. Even the trips from hospital to hospital in the ambulance. Daddy was running back and forth to take care of my brothers and sister. Then returning back to me every chance he got. If you could donate to COTA in my honor, it greatly would be very appreciated! Just so my mommy and daddy can be everywhere they need to be. COTA is helping my family with transplant-related expenses. Your help would go above and beyond anything we could pray and hope for. I have to have a new heart and I have to stay by the hospital for a whole year after the transplant.
Thank you
Love RJ

It’s been such an overwhelming process for every single thing we have gone through. Our emotions are overflowing with exhaustion and it’s honestly just a rollercoaster to say the least. This process ranges from the Doctors, and Nurses, of all levels having meetings, testing of all ranges. They have had the genetics team come and be a part of this, the surgeons. You name it. The genetics team tested us to see if by chance the DNA from us had anything to do with RJ’s heart issue. It does not. It is something RJ was born with. There is a silver lining in all of this, which is RJ is a very good candidate for an early transplant. We were told most babies his age is around 6 months when they actually do get the transplant. He has the right blood type to get an early heart. Also, they continue to do tests as this goes on. Praying for this not to be a long wait for our little fella. We arrived currently back to our home on Friday, October 7th to be exact. RJ’s heart doctor discharged him from the hospital on Friday, September 23rd. RJ had to stay close to the hospital for two weeks, so we were at the Ronald McDonald House during that time. In those two weeks we traveled to the outpatient Children’s Hospital part of the Cleveland Clinic to all of RJ’s appointments. RJ has at least 3 appointments each week. Every week RJ has to get an Echocadiogram, EKG, and as well as continued bloodwork. We go up weekly to RJ’s appointments. His Pediatrician has changed and will stay also at the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital because they all have been a part of this since we have started RJ’s journey. Seeing how RJ is the boss & he tells us how he is doing at every moment of his life, we do exactly what he wants and how he wants it. At any given time if RJ has any episodes, goes backwards in any way, we return to the hospital. In that unfortunate event we then will go to the closest Children’s Hospital and they will life-flight him back up to Cleveland Clinic because we live too far. We need the fastest resort possible in that time of need. Whether that’s before or after the transplant, that’s completely up to RJ’s heart. RJ tells us what he wants & how to do exactly what he needs. He’s the boss. Every day is a new day. Every second is new also. Please continue praying. We greatly appreciate it.

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.