Lewis Howard Lew Needs a Heart

Lewis was a happy, healthy baby until September 7th, just after he turned 6 months old, when we brought him to the ER for fast breathing and shockingly found out he has dilated cardiomyopathy resulting in heart failure. He was doing well on oral medications for a bit and then had a sudden decline. We were told he would need a heart transplant, but the U of M doesn’t currently have a pediatric heart transplant surgeon. Lew was getting worse and we were running out of time to safely transport him to a different hospital. Colorado Children’s Hospital was the first transplant center that called us back and agreed to take Lew as a patient, so he was emergently flown to Colorado. He was placed on a Berlin Heart VAD on November 12th to pump for his heart while he waits for a transplant. The whole family has now moved to Colorado to be with Lew. We were told the average wait time to get a heart is 2-3 months, but can be up to 6. Then post-transplant we will be required to stay here for another 2-3 months.