NEW WEB SITE!

This will be the last post that we will make to this blog site.

COTA has Landon's new web site up and running. There is a blog page on that web site that we will be posting updates to. Please follow the link to Landon's web site and register with the site to receive updates. The web site will grow and get better and better.

Landon has just turned three months old. His story has just begun and this miracle is still unfolding. We hope that everyone will continue to follow Landon's story on the new web site.

Here is the link http://www.cotaforlandonj.com/

Sunday's Meeting

The organizational and training meeting went well. Landon was able to attend and everyone enjoyed meeting him.
The next step is to begin organizing committees for different events and fundraisers. One of the first fundraisers will be putting out coin boxes at convenience stores and other locations. One person would be responsible for putting out as many boxes as they can handle, going back each week and collecting the money, and moving the boxes about every four weeks. I have the boxes and all the information. If you would like to help with this project please contact me. I am also looking for a couple tents or canopies to be used at the various festivals that are taking place. We will be setting up a display to give out information about COTA and Landon, setting up a big donation box, selling COTA wrist bands, maybe selling other items that might be donated to Landon's campaign, and conducting fun activities at the festivals. If you would like to participate in a festival let me know and we will make the arrangements. We will begin planning other events and can use all the help possible. If you have ideas for events or fundraisers please let me know.
We can now begin organizing in Alexander County and any other county that we have a connection to. We had to get this training meeting done, with COTA, before we could begin fundraising activities.

COTA Campaign Meeting

Everyone is invited to the meeting today to begin organizing our fundraising campaign for Landon. COTA is sending a representative here to help us get organized and to do a training session. The meeting begins at two o'clock this afternoon and is at the Sparta First Baptist Church, in Sparta, NC. Call me if you need directions 336-572-9218.
Kathy and Shelly have made refreshments and someone will be there to watch children, if you need to bring them. We have made a short video, of Landon, to show at the meeting. We are also hoping that Landon will be able to make an appearance. He is here with us and got a good night's sleep so I think he will make it. This is going to be a fun and rewarding project for everyone that gets involved.

Landon is in the Papers

The newspaper article about Landon was published in this week's paper and hit the stands this afternoon. We are very pleased and think the article is good. You can view the front page at this link http://www.alleghanynews.com/. Unfortunately you can't read the entire article online. If you would like a copy let me know and I will pick up extra copies and mail one to you.
We are getting excited about the meeting this Sunday. We have received another box full of goodies from COTA. We can't wait to start planning all of the fun events to raise funds for Landon.
Remember 2pm Sunday at the First Baptist Church in Sparta.

Newspaper Article

The newspaper called and said they have the article finished and ready to be published in next week's paper. We are going by this morning to take a look at it and make sure everything is correct. It should be in Wednesday's edition of the Alleghany News.
We received a package from COTA. The package contains some of the materials we need to kick off the fundraising campaign. It also has examples of what other families have done. It's exciting and fun stuff.
I noticed that someone has made the first donation to Landon's trust fund. That's great! It's a start.

Fund Raising Campaign

The date, time, and place have been set for the organizational meeting for the fund raising campaign. The meeting will be Sunday July 19th at 2 p.m. in the fellowship hall of the Sparta First Baptist Church, in Sparta NC. The church is located at 202 South Main Street in Sparta.
For Landon to get a transplant, the expected expenses for Landon's family are at least $75,000. We are not a wealthy family. We must conduct a fund raising campaign to get the money needed to make a transplant possible for Landon. We will be working with the Children's Organ Transplant Association, COTA http://www.cota.org/COTA.php . COTA is sending a lady to the organizational meeting to help us get started. The campaign to save Landon will be conducted in every county that we have any connection to or that we can organize in. We will begin in Alleghany and Alexander Counties and expand from there. I really hope that we can get some folks from Alexander to attend this first meeting. It will be of great help, when we begin to organize in Alexander, if we have a few people, from Alexander, that are familiar with COTA and what we need to do. Everyone from anywhere that is interested in helping us make a miracle for Landon is invited to attend this meeting. This meeting will be over by 4 p.m. Please mark your calender.
My goal is to not only raise the funds needed, for Landon, but to make this a fun and rewarding experience for everyone involved.

Transplant Surgeons Meeting

The transplant surgical team, in Boston, took a look at Landon and had a meeting with Jeremiah and Shelly before they left Boston. They gave Jeremiah and Shelly their opinions about Landon's situation and discussed what the future might hold for Landon. They agree that Landon needs a small intestine transplant. The fact that Landon has virtually no small intestine means that Landon cannot eat and absorb nutrition. He cannot survive without intravenous feeding. His only chance at a long, some what, normal life is with a transplant. They also noted that Landon's liver is already slightly enlarged and that is likely that he will need a liver transplant as well as a small intestine transplant. They noted that we are doing everything possible to save Landon's liver and to delay a transplant as long as possible. They agree that this is the best approach. The bigger and stronger Landon is when the transplant is done the better his chance of surviving. If we can save his liver and only do a small intestine transplant and then the small intestine transplant goes bad we have the option of removing the transplant and looking for another small intestine. If his liver gets bad and we have to do a liver transplant then the option of a re transplant is not available. The surgeons then brought up this option. If Landon's liver goes bad and we have to seek a liver and small intestine transplant then we should consider doing a small intestine, liver, stomach, and pancreas transplant, all from the same donor. They stated that the survival rates seem to be better for patients that have the multivisceral transplant done.

They also discussed the research that is currently taking place. Researchers are experimenting with growing organs for transplant. We don't know what the future holds and the longer we can put off a transplant the better.

Kathy and I drove down and attended services at the Stoney Point Baptist Church with Jeremiah, Shelly, Roger, Ezekiel, and Landon, today. This is the church that Shelly's family attends. The Pastor from Stoney Point Baptist Church, Reverend Phil Addison, was with us, at Baptist Hospital, when we first learned about Landon's condition and were told that Landon was going to die. Reverend Phil prayed for Landon, that day, at Baptist Hospital. The congregation at Stoney Point Baptist Church has been praying for Landon ever since, as have dozens of churches around the country. We would like to thank each and every church and visit with each and every church. Thank you.

Landon is home from Boston

Landon came home from Boston, yesterday. It was a very stressful day for all of us and culminated with the airline needing to declare a medical emergency to get Landon off the airplane in Charlotte.
The doctors in Boston have been taking Landon off of his IV feedings for several hours each day. They monitored him while he was off his IV to make sure that his blood sugar did not drop and that everything else is OK. There was a problem, in Boston, getting Landon the PN solution to take home. They needed to get if from Baptist hospital in Winston and have it delivered to Jeremiah's home. So they decided to stop Landon's IV feeding at 12:30 allow him to fly to Charlotte without the PN. His flight was due to arrive at 5:30 which would have him off his feeding for five hours. He has been off for as long as eight hours but that was while he was being monitored. Kathy and I went by Jeremiah's home and picked up the PN and supplies and took them to the airport so that Landon could be connected as soon as he arrived. If everything would have gone as planned we would have been OK. It didn't.
The plane was an hour late leaving Boston. When they arrived in Charlotte planes were already docked at the terminal and they could not get off the plane. They were forced to sit on the plane for nearly an hour. By then it was approaching 7:30 and Landon had been off of his IV feeding for nearly seven hours. Jeremiah and Shelly began to notice that Landon's eyes were looking glassy and his he was becoming very pale. The airline attendants were aware of Landon's situation and when Jeremiah and Shelly told them that they had to get Landon off the plane immediately we believe that the attendants brought it to the attention of the pilots and they declared a medical emergency. The plane was allowed to dock at another airline's terminal. Jeremiah and Landon were taken off the plane loaded on a motorized cart and brought to us as quickly as possible. I had everything laid out in the van for Jeremiah to get Landon connected to his IV. It still took Jeremiah nearly thirty minutes to get him hooked up and going. Within a short time we noticed that Landon was more alert and looked better. Talk about a stressful day! We will never let that happen again. Landon will never travel again without having PN (parenteral nutrition, IV feeding solution) available.
Jeremiah, Shelly, and Landon are at home today getting some much needed rest.

Coming Home

Landon is doing very well and the doctors in Boston have done all the test that they can, for now. If everything goes well tonight Landon will be discharged tomorrow. They have booked a flight and should be arriving in Charlotte about 5:30 tomorrow evening. I know that Jeremiah and Shelly are very tired and are looking forward to getting home and getting some rest. This all comes as a little bit of a surprise, we were not expecting them to be coming home for another week. They will need to return to Boston in about a month.
They are now cycling Landon off of his IV feedings for several hours each day. This will make it easier for them to get Landon out and go places with him. We look forward to seeing Jeremiah, Shelly, and of course Landon.
If you remember I had posted that our local newspaper was going to publish an article about Landon, a couple weeks ago. The reporter that is working on the story did not feel that she had enough information and decided to wait until she could do some interviews. She did interview Kathy, Roger, Ezekiel, and myself a couple days ago. She might interview Jeremiah and Shelly in a couple days and get some pictures of Landon. The editor has told us that it will be published in the July 15th issue of The Alleghany News.
We are planning an organizational meeting for Landon's fund raising campaign. The date we are shooting for is July 19th. This will be the Sunday after the article comes out in the paper. The meeting will be somewhere in Sparta and about 2 o'clock in the afternoon. COTA will be sending someone here to help us get organized. I hope that we can get some folks from Alexander County to come up to this first meeting. After we get organized in Alleghany we will be organizing in Alexander, also. The amount of money that we need to raise to get Landon a transplant is more than we can possibly raise in one area. We will need to organize campaigns in every community that we have any connection to.

Blood Clot Dissolved

An ultrasound, today, revealed that the blood clot around the tube in Landon's thigh has dissolved. That's very good news. There is still a problem with a rash under the dressing on his thigh. They haven't been able to get rid of the rash and are becoming more concerned about it. If it becomes infected they will have to remove the tube and Landon will have lost one of the few sites available for his IV feeding catheter.
Jeremiah and Shelly met with the doctors and nurses today. The doctors and nurses feel that the treatments have gone very well and that if they can resolve the problem with the rash, and there are no other complications, Landon could be released from the hospital late next week. He could possibly come home at that time. He will need to return to Boston once a month or every other month for check ups.
Jeremiah and Shelly were able to get a couple ladies that volunteer at the hospital to sit with Landon while they got away for a couple hours today. They needed a break.