Heart of Gold - A 2nd Transplant for Jamaica Page

Jamaica’s heart has always been, and always will be, a Heart of Gold. She is the mother to four amazing children, a loving and supportive wife, a caring daughter, and a friend to all. More than that, she’s an incredible sister, and my best friend. She’s the first one I call with amazing news and the first to offer her shoulder to lean on when I’ve had a horrible day. Her unending positivity, love, and support are all things that I admire about her.

Unfortunately, my sister has also been battling arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy—a genetic disorder that affects only one in 5,000 people—for more than five years now. This condition affects the normal transmission of electrical signals through the heart, leading to heart arrhythmia, and eventually stretches the heart to a point where it fills with adipose (fatty) tissue, ultimately causing heart failure.

Over the past five years, Jamaica has undergone multiple surgeries, numerous hospitalizations, and had to use both a defibrillator and a pacemaker. During this time, however, she has proven to be one of the most courageous women I’ve ever known. She pressed forward and continued to run a daycare out of her home where she loved and cared for the children of numerous families, showing them the same warmth, attention, and compassion that she shows her own children. She is truly one of the most selfless people on planet Earth.

In September 2022, we learned that Jamaica’s heart couldn’t hang on any longer, and a transplant was needed. She was put on the donor-recipient list and anxiously waited, while still performing her normal activities as best as she could. She hoped for the best and continued taking care of her household, working full time, and being the Super-Mom that she is. On January 6, 2023, her heart had failed to the point where it was no longer possible to do even the little things she loved. She was immediately admitted to the ICU, and by the end of the month, her condition had changed from serious to critical, pushing her to the top of the transplant list. With her heart unable to operate at full capacity, other vital organs began to suffer and became a failure risk as well. The need for a new heart was urgent and intense.

On February 11th, we received word that Jamaica would finally be getting a heart! We were elated and felt so incredibly blessed. She was taken into surgery at 3:30 that afternoon, and after almost 12 straight hours, the doctors had successfully completed the transplant. As they tried to lower the meds to test the new heart and ensure it was working properly, they found that it was “sluggish” which forced them to keep her on a lot of medication in order to keep her blood pressure stable. The meds alone proved to be not enough, and she was put on an ECMO heart and lung bypass machine, allowing her heart and lungs to rest, giving the new heart a chance to rebound.

It never did.

The doctors became concerned and performed a biopsy of the newly transplanted heart to determine if the heart itself was the problem, or if it was another condition of Jamaica’s disorder. It was determined that she had suffered a primary graft failure, which only happens 1% of the time, but it meant the heart wasn’t doing its job. This was devastating news—especially after the only too-recent moments of relief.

Our concern has reached new heights, as my sister waits in the ICU for yet another heart to become available. After five days of waiting with no luck, doctors decided that it was more dangerous to leave her organs exposed and lying flat for that long, and closed her chest.

We are now desperately praying and hoping that another miracle heart will finally save my sister.

I started this GoFundMe to help ease the astronomical financial burden of the medical expenses, but also to ask for your love and prayers for Jamaica while she waits for another new heart.

One transplant on its own is a stressful and expensive process, and due to the complications she’s experienced so far, the stress and financial burden have now doubled.

I know my sister would love nothing more than to be back home with her husband, kids, pets, family, and friends, and I can’t wait until it’s a reality. That day can’t come soon enough.

Here’s to hoping that the third heart will be the charm!

We are and will be, eternally grateful to all who can donate to this amazing woman, as well as to the millions of loving and generous organ donors around the world. Please do what you can to support Jamaica, Ben, Sterling (Sam), Chandler, Adisyn, and Alexis (Lexi) during this extremely challenging time.

With so much love and gratitude,

The Farnworth & Meyer family (Rachael, Chad, Lisa and Kerry)