COTA for Team Delia

Our Story

Many of you have probably seen Delia around and yet have no idea what her voice sounds like. Delia is notoriously shy and feels no social pressure to answer direct questions when asked, which is something we actually kind of love about her. She has this quiet strength and FIRM stubbornness that has been the bane of our existence since having the pleasure of parenting her. We always knew that her firmness of mind that could cause such trouble in a baby, toddler and child would undoubtedly be her super power one day. I wish we didn’t have to see those super powers being used right now but that’s where we find ourselves. This kid is breaking my heart on a daily basis with her quiet strength when faced with such a terrible situation. 

On March 19, I took Delia to the doctor because her stomach was bloated and we’d done everything the on-call doctor had suggested and nothing worked to reduce the bloating. The doctor looked through Delia’s labs, checked out her abdomen and immediately referred us to OHSU to get checked out. We were in there for a couple of hours when a doctor came in, handed us a phone and said the doctor on the phone could explain something that he, as an ED doctor could not, the doctor on the phone proceeded to tell Nick and I that Delia was in pretty severe liver failure and she would need to get life flighted to Stanford for a liver transplant. Three weeks after being transferred to Stanford, Delia received her life saving transplant. While those three weeks felt like a lifetime, we are so grateful that it was only three weeks. A week after her transplant she had to be reopened for a bile duct reconstruction surgery. She is healing well from both and on April 24, 6 weeks to the day after being admitted to Stanford Hospital, we were discharged. We finally got to go home on May 22, 65 days after Delia and I arrived in California. 

Both of us find it very difficult to ask for help, but a lot of you have been asking how you can help, so this fundraising organization (Children’s Organ Transplant Association [COTA]) was presented to us by the hospital. COTA doesn’t charge any fees, which ensures that 100% of your giving goes to transplant-related expenses. Additionally, your gifts are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Please consider donating to COTA in honor of Delia to assist with a lifetime of transplant-related expenses.

So many of you have already shown up in huge ways and we feel your love and support. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for any and all the love and support you are able to give. 

– Nick and Jessye

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.