For those readers that don’t know Landon’s story let me tell a little about it. Landon Joines was born on April 20, 2009. Within hours of Landon’s birth, we were told that Landon was going to die. Landon’s intestine had twisted around the artery normally supplying blood to his small intestine. His small intestine had died and doctors stated that Landon would not survive. In what we describe as divine intervention, we discovered that Landon could survive, with a transplant. Landon’s small intestine was removed and intravenous feeding nourished Landon for more than two years. Until this happened:
Here is what was posted on Landon’s COTA blog on this date, June 16th, 2011:
“TRANSPLANT!!!
Submitted by Eldon on Thu, 06/16/2011 - 2:21pm
We just got a call from Duke. They have a perfect match. It may be time for the transplant. We have given the OK and are packing to leave for Duke now. We will update from Duke tonight…... Please begin praying for Landon, Now!”
This was posted the next morning on the 17th:
“Landon’s Transplant is happening now.
Submitted by Eldon on Fri, 06/17/2011 - 7:19am
Sorry for the silence. I had to get some sleep. The actual transplant surgery started about 5am. They had to wait for the organ to arrive. Landon is receiving a small intestine. We are expecting an update at any time. The organ must have been very close it only took them about 90 minutes to get it here. Our hearts are breaking for the family that just lost a child. We are so thankful for their decision to donate their child's organs. We will update as much as possible, today. I might try to get the streaming video back up from the surgical waiting room. I finally got the sound working. Jeremiah, Shelly, and Kathy were up all night. They are very tired.”
As the transplant was taking place, Shelly (Landon’s mother), posted this on the blog:
“Waiting
Submitted by Shelly on Fri, 06/17/2011 - 12:35pm
It seems that all we get done is waiting. In the begining we waited while I was pregnant to see our beautifu baby boy. Then we waited to see if his life could be saved. We have waited 11 months for this transplant and now as I sit here waiting for my baby boy to come out of surgery it is hard to hold back tears. Tears of joy and sadness. Last night as I stood beside my small, sweet boy as he was being put under in the operating room I cried. He has come so far in life, more than was ever expected. Yet I was sad. His little body has gone through so much. So many surgeries with more to come. My heart was breaking for him, the struggles he has been through, the scars that will be with him for the rest of his life, the new challenges ahead. I wondered if he would be any different. His whole life just changed. I also had tears of joy for Landon. I was so happy that he was receiving a transplant, that he would not have to drag his bag of fluids and pumps around anymore. I was happy to know that he was going to have a chance at a normal life. I thought about the fact the Landon will probly never remember any of this. Our memories and photos will be all he has of this crazy roller coaster we have been on for 2 years and 2 months. My son is so strong and ready to live. He has taught us to love and be happy with ourselves. I just want to thank the donor family. I do not know who you are or how this all came to be but thank you for taking your tragedy and turning it into our joy. I am so thankful you chose to be a donor. I ask everyone reading this to think about being a donor. Talk about it with your family and loved ones. Think of all the lives that can be saved or improved with you. I have always been a donor and never thought that I would have a child like Landon. As a teen I felt that I had to be a donor, if I could help someone after I was gone would help my family know I was still living on through others. I felt it was morally the thing to do. So to all donors THANK YOU for thinking of others without you more lives would be lost. We are still waiting for Landon to come out of surgery. I can't wait to kiss his little face and tell him how proud I am of him and how proud I am to be his mother. He is changing lives and he doesn't even know it. Thanks to all for your prayers and support. We will write again soon. Don't forget to check out the live feed on facebook to be with us when the doctors come to talk to us after surgery.”
And then later that day:
“The Transplant is done!
Submitted by Eldon on Fri, 06/17/2011 - 2:06pm
The transplant is done. Everything looks good. We met with the transplant surgeon and she is very happy with the way things went. I hope everyone got to see a little bit of the streaming video. We had some problems with my computer. I broke the cord to the power supply when they called us to meet with the doctor. At least we had another computer but it is slower and I know it was freezing up. Landon will be in the ICU for several days. We are getting ready to go up and see him, now. We will post more updates soon. We hope to get some good pictures of him in the ICU. We will post them here.”
Here are some pictures that were taken after the transplant:
And here is Landon today, five years after the transplant. Soaring on his swing that he loves to swing on when he comes to maw maw's house:
Landon has had very few problems since the transplant. He is growing, slowly. Gaining weight will probably always be a problem for him. He is full of energy and very smart.
This is a big milestone for Landon. When we were first considering a transplant for Landon we were told that at that time the expected mortality for intestinal transplant patients was about five years. We were told not to expect Landon to live more than five years even after the transplant.
God has been so good to Landon and our Family! We are so blessed.
(This is the original location of Landon's Blog, before COTA. We have not posted much in a couple years because we were just so happy to watch Landon growing up like a normal little boy. We will once again begin posting updates about Landon on this blog and transferring blog post from the COTA blog to this blog. Once all the blog post from the COTA blog have been transferred Landon's entire story will be available on this blog.)
