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Jayden
Jayden Duong has been battling biliary atresia since he was two months old. Born in 2017, he is now almost three years old.
Biliary atresia is a rare disease where the bile ducts of the liver have scarred and blocks bile from excreting into the intestines. This causes bile to build up and damages the liver.
“When Jayden turned two months old, his jaundice was not improving,” said his mother Jeny Duong. “We tried to treat it with light therapy but to no avail.”
After getting blood work done, the pediatrician notified the Greeley family that Jayden may have this rare disease. They were recommended to go to the Children’s Hospital of Colorado for further testing.
“For days to weeks, months, and now years we have shed so many tears wondering why and what could we have done differently,” said Duong.
On November 17, 2017, the same week he was diagnosed with bilary artesia, Jayden underwent Kasai surgery, to surgically attach his small intestines to his liver in an attempt to return bile flow back into his intestines.
After three months, the family was informed the surgery was not successful. During this time, Jayden had also stopped gaining weight and needed a nasogastric tube. The transplant team at Colorado Children’s Hospital now recommended a life-saving liver transplant.
Duong said: “It was heartbreaking to see him go through so much and it wasn’t even the end of it for the little guy yet.”
Several months after Jayden turned one, he was placed on a transplant list. Yet, there continued to be difficulties, not with Jayden but with the family’s health insurance which did not allow Jayden to receive the transplant in Colorado. He was on a transplant list in California. After another month, he was scheduled for surgery, so the family flew to California.
Unfortunately, because Jayden had a cold on his scheduled surgery date, the hospital would not operate on him. He would need to be on immunosuppressants, which would exacerbate his cold and doctors felt he might not be able to fight it off.
“We left heartbroken and defeated once more,” said Duong. “Two years came and went with no calls. After years of fighting with our insurance, we are finally able to get a live donor. No more waiting. Jayden is finally getting his new liver.”
And some good news now! Jayden will be getting a liver transplant on Sept. 9, 2020 with an organ donation from his father Richard.
Family, friends and Greeley volunteers are helping the family raise $50,000 to assist with transplant-related expenses with the help of the Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA). 100% of the proceeds raised from fundraising will go to Jayden for his liver transplant. To donate, go to: cotaforjaydensjourney.com.