November 3, 2025 — November is an important month to many transplant families across the country because it is National Marrow Donor Awareness Month — a time to acknowledge those who have donated bone marrow and stem cells to save others’ lives. November is also National Family Caregivers Month, which was established in 2014 to pay tribute to those caring for the health and wellbeing of family members, friends and neighbors. For the Lindsay family of Show Low, Arizona, both of these month-long, awareness-raising celebrations have had a significant impact on their two daughters’ transplant journeys to date.
Megan and Jeffrey Lindsay were blessed with the birth of their two little girls born two years apart. Sawyer, their oldest, is now 10 years old and Harper has recently celebrated her eighth birthday. Megan and Jeffrey have faced significant health challenges with their ‘Lindsay Girls’ but are extremely grateful for the health care professionals, family and friends who have helped them navigate two expensive life-saving transplant journeys.
During this month brimming with gratitude, Mom Megan shares where this family has been and why today their hearts are filled with appreciation for selfless gifts.
Our beautiful girls, Sawyer and Harper, have faced the biggest challenges imaginable over the past several years. In 2022, both of our girls were diagnosed with DOCK8 Deficiency, a genetic immune disease. DOCK8 is a recessive gene mutation that causes the immune system to not function properly. We have been dealing with the symptoms of DOCK8 for the entirety of their lives. In the summer of 2022, we found a geneticist who took our concerns seriously and did genetic immune testing. We finally had a diagnosis that explained both of their symptoms and recurrent illnesses. Each child with DOCK8 presents the disease differently. Both girls have dealt with life-threatening food allergies from infancy, along with terrible eczema and more frequent illnesses than typical children.
Sawyer is a wonderful, sweet girl, who has dealt with medical appointments and surgeries since she was 3 months old. She was born with amniotic banding that caused significant craniofacial anomalies, along with anomalies of her right hand and arm. To date, she has had 12 surgeries to repair/improve her day-to-day function, mobility and strength. She never complains, she just trudges through each surgery and specialist appointment with joy. Aside from these congenital issues, her DOCK8 has caused her to have recurrent staph skin infections, strep, impetigo, ear infections and more than 15 anaphylactic food/drug allergies. She has required the injection of epinephrine 10 times in the six years prior to transplant.
Harper is somewhat opposite of her sister — both medically and personality wise. She is wild and strong-willed. Her infectious history has followed a different path over the years. She has had asthma, recurrent urinary tract infections and recurrent pneumonia. Just one month after she was diagnosed with DOCK8, she spent more than two weeks as an inpatient, fighting a rare pneumonia called pneumocystis. This is an illness that attacks only those who are immunocompromised. She spent four days in the pediatric ICU; two of those days she was on a ventilator so they could perform testing to see what kind of infection was causing her lung dysfunction and to give her lungs an opportunity to rest. Before this admission, she had been diagnosed with less severe pneumonia on three other occasions within three years. We always thought of Harper as our NON medically complex child; however, we were very wrong.
Children who are diagnosed with DOCK8 experience weakening immune systems as they grow. Infections become more frequent and more serious as the immune system is unable to detect them. This can cause irreversible damage to the child such as stroke, vasculitis, damage to major organs, as well as infections their body simply cannot fight. Another concern with DOCK8 is the immune system cannot detect cancer, and malignancies are almost inevitable. Thankfully for families like the Lindsays, there is a treatment for DOCK8 –a bone marrow transplant. While the prognosis without the transplant is grim, a successful bone marrow transplant is shown to change lives for many children diagnosed with DOCK8. But these treatments come at great cost, and for this family the costs were multiplied by two. A transplant social worker suggested Megan and Jeffrey might want to reach out to the Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) to see how they could possibly help with the costs associated with two life-saving transplants.
On July 1, 2022, Megan sent a Get Started (COTAGetStarted.org) notification to COTA and requested more information. Later that day, COTA’s Family Outreach Specialist and Megan had a detailed phone call about transplant-related expenses and the family’s situation with two children needing transplants. Megan said they were covered by an employer medical policy, but Phoenix Children’s is out-of-network, so the family would be responsible for 50% of the expenses. The Lindsays live about three and a half hours from the transplant center. Megan said transplant-related expenses, including travel, meals, lodging and parking will be ongoing and significant.
COTA uniquely understands that parents who care for a child or young adult before, during and after a life-saving transplant have enough to deal with; therefore, COTA’s model shifts the responsibility for fundraising to a team of trained volunteers. COTA is a 501(c)3 charity so all contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law, and funds are available for a lifetime of transplant-related expenses.
On August 16, 2022, their signed agreement arrived at COTA’s Indiana headquarters, and the Lindsay family officially became part of the COTA Family … Sawyer and Harper became COTA Kids.
On September 14th, a COTA Fundraising Specialist trained the family’s group of 24 attentive and motivated volunteers so fundraising for the COTA campaign could begin immediately. The COTA staff member shared information about the fundraising process, fundraising templates, guidance and support, and the no-cost website they would be provided. COTA in honor of Lindsay Girls was launched, and the website was immediately available for online donations. The team quickly got to work and raised more than $91,000 for COTA to assist with transplant-related expenses. Megan and Jeffrey were overwhelmed and deeply grateful for this outpouring of love and support – especially since one of the girls’ transplant dates was quickly approaching.
Sawyer had her transplant on December 5, 2022, and did great. Her central line was removed around day 90 after transplant and she was able to return home just three months post-transplant. Over the course of the next eight months, appointments went from weekly to biweekly, to once a month when she could stop taking her anti-rejection meds. She is for the moment off all medications related to transplant and has recovered well post-transplant. She has been able to return to school and most normal life activities. Transplants have long-term side effects and there will be care needed throughout lifetime to ensure she stays healthy. Best of all, she has ZERO food allergies post-transplant and can eat all the things that were life threatening prior to transplant.
Harper was transplanted on July 24, 2023, and has faced challenges. Going into transplant, we knew she was at a higher risk of complications; her transplant was urgent. Our transplant team tried to find the balance between making sure Sawyer was far enough out from transplant for us to reasonably be able to take care of both girls’ needs. Harper had several delays due to the condition of her lungs. She had a longer road due to her more serious health concerns. But we have seen wonderful improvements in her health since the transplant. Finally, on December 15, 2023, she had her central line removed and was cleared to come home just in time for Christmas. We are now finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel after several long years of endless medical chaos and ongoing transplant-related expenses. We are hopeful our lives will be returning to a ‘new’ normal soon.
“One reason we have been able to remain hopeful is because COTA has been a vital part of our of family’s transplant journeys,” Megan said. “We felt hopeful after our very first call with the staff. After learning that our beloved and trusted transplant team was out of network for our health insurance, we were crushed. But we also knew that two, out-of-network bone marrow transplants would bankrupt our family. The other option was to travel to work with a transplant team much farther from our home who did not have experience with very rare diagnoses. As soon as we had our first call with COTA, I knew they were the answer to our prayers. COTA gave us hope.”
At the beginning of 2024, Megan blogged on the COTA-provided website that Sawyer was officially off all medications. She also posted, “Miss Harper is just as sassy as ever.” At the time, Harper was still struggling to adjust but getting closer to her new normal. Megan and Jeffrey were anxious to have both girls off their immunosuppressant medications because their insurance company was becoming unwilling to cover these expensive compound medications. Once again, Megan blogged on the COTA-provided website. “COTA has been the biggest blessing for our family through both girls’ transplant journeys and continues to be now they are post-transplant,” Megan said. “COTA and their wonderful staff have allowed us not to stress about how the medical bills associated with two, expensive transplants would ever be paid. COTA has allowed us to focus on our two daughters’ transplants and recoveries. And COTA’s support does not end once a transplant is received. Their commitment is in place for a lifetime of transplant-related expenses and for us, that means two lifetimes.”
She added, “We can never adequately express our heartfelt gratitude to the COTA volunteers, COTA contributors and COTA’s staff of caring professionals. COTA has been by our side for every step of the way and has made two transplant journeys possible for our family.”
Today, Sawyer and Harper are living blessed lives. Megan said:
“Going into transplant, there are so many unknown outcomes. Our girls have conquered their transplant journeys, beat the odds, and are now living VERY full and active lives. This life post-transplant is one that we could have only dreamed about three years ago. A life with healthy children … doing every activity they dream up. Sawyer and Harper both have their own horses and are competing in barrel racing as well as jumping. They are both taking jiu jitsu classes. Overall, they are stronger than they have ever been. We are overwhelmingly thankful for our transplant team, our family … and COTA for making all of this possible. It takes a village, and we were blessed that COTA was part of our village.”
Happy Thanksgiving, Lindsay Family, from your COTA Family … and thank you for being Amazing Family Caregivers!
National Marrow Awareness Month is observed each November. During this time, the accomplishments of physicians who perform transplant research are celebrated. Bone marrow and stem cell donors are remembered with gratitude for saving lives nationwide. Each year in the United States, more than 17,000 people are diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses that require a bone marrow, stem cell or cord blood transplant, which replace diseased cells with healthy cells. The more people donate marrow; the more people will survive. Please consider becoming a marrow donor. Go to the National Marrow Donor Program to learn more about registering to become a bone marrow, stem cell or cord blood donor. When establishing November as National Family Caregivers Month, President Obama said, “Each day, courageous individuals step forward to care for family members in need. Their quiet acts of selflessness and sacrifice tell the story of love and devotion.”
