LANDON'S TRANSPLANT - 5th anniversary!

Tomorrow, June 17th, is the 5th anniversary of Landon’s small intestine transplant. Unbelievable! At times it seems like it was all just a dream. But then I read back over the old blog describing what happened and it all comes flooding back in, the apprehension, the anticipation, the questions, the anger, the fear, and the love.

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.)

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.