Kyle JordaA Gift for Kyle
Thank you for visiting this page. We have put this together as an effort to get everyone together to help raise some money to buy a really nice gift for a really amazing person out of the love of our hearts. On the evening of Tuesday, June 1st, Kyle and his brother Blake were talking with one another when Kyle suddenly screamed out in pain, clutching his chest. He was rushed to the ER and then to Children's Memorial Hospital for emergency open-heart surgery. Kyle had a tear in the wall of his aorta known as an aortic dissection , which penetrated through 2 of 3 layers. If it had gone through the third layer, he wouldn’t be here today.
The surgery was scheduled to last 6-8 hours, but ended up lasting over 12 hours! The surgeon said, “He just had one of the hardest operations you could do on a person.”
They tried to repair his valve, but it was leaking too much to tolerate. They ended up putting in a mechanical valve, which is much stronger than his was. The surgeon reassured his family that there’s no chance his body will reject it. He is currently on a pacemaker which they had hoped would only be for a couple of weeks but are now considering as a permanent option. His kidneys a working well and he is breathing on his own now, but as of the last update he is still not up and moving around yet, we are hoping to hear that he is soon.
His updates say that he is in a lot of pain, but cards received recently brought a smile to his face for the first time since his surgery. Let's make Kyle smile some more!
As a mother of a 12-year-old son myself, I know how much they appreciate getting presents, and especially really "cool" ones. Kyle is going to have a lot of rest time and I think that getting him and his brother a new hand-held game system that they can play together on, and some games would be a nice surprise that would raise his spirits! I have been told one of the boys has a Nintendo DS, so we are thinking maybe another one, or a new PSP for both of them, and if the response to our gift-drive is above and beyond my original thoughts, perhaps a new lap-top! If we could raise the money for that I know he would just love it. My 12 yr. old son loves to play games online like Club Penguin where he can arrange to meet his friends and actually talk (type) and interact with one another in real time :) Socializing with good friends always helps raise the spirit! I think it would be a really great thing to be able to get him a gift like that! Any extra money after the gifts have been purchased will be given to Kyle in the form of gift cards for Target or Best Buy, so he can get the games (or whatever) he likes.
We appreciate any and all donations! My 14 year old daughter Tara has created a wonderful large hand-drawn card (see pic below) that we will have available for everyone to sign and will present to Kyle with the gift. We will have the card on display at my mom's store, Lighthouse Liquors, at 40W099 Route 64 in Wasco (St. Charles address if you are using Mapquest or a gps) let me know if you need detailed directions! We will be accepting cash donations there and you can also sign the card there up until the day we make the purchase which will be Friday, June 21st...note we changed this date from Monday the 21st by request of Kyle's family. As soon as I hear from Kyle's mom and grandma we will set the date in stone but until then we are going to go with Friday. We will post the time soon but probably at 11 am if you want to meet us there.
You may also donate via PayPal to katyandbradl@aol.com - please include a message with the transaction that states what you would like to add to the card (if you want your name/s and a personal message to Kyle added and we will do that).
Donations may also be mailed securely to PO Box 112, St. Charles, IL 60174, please address them to Katy Lundsteen. We will post updates on the donations (names kept private), not going to set a "goal" amount, but we will let everyone know how much we've raised! We are very excited about this and look very forward to giving Kyle a gift of Love from the hearts of many. Thank you so much!! -Katy
UPDATES: As of Thursday night (6/17) Kyle was doing, well, he had been off the pacemaker for a couple of days and his heart was beating on his own, but in the words of his mother, "Everything changed overnight" and Kyle is undergoing surgery again right now as we speak to put in a premanent pacemaker. She said he is very upset about this. We really need to pull together to help cheer him up. Let's all show him we care. He has spent his entire summer vacation in a hospital bed. Let's bring him a gift he can have some fun with!!
6/20/10 - Kyle may be coming home Tuesday and we should be able to bring him his gifts this week!! Thanks to all the generosity we are able to get the laptop! We will be doing a little price checking and comparing between Best Buy, CostCo, and Sam's Club before we make our final decision. If anyone has any information to contribute on a good laptop or a good deal, let us know! :) (email address above)
Kyle Jorda
This is a photograph I took of Kyle in the last Burlington Parade, marching with team spirit, despite a broken leg and crutches!! That goes to show you his strength and determination! We're rooting for you Kyle, and praying for you every day!!
Learn more about what happened to Kyle's precious heart:
http://www.facebook.com/katyandbrad#!/pages/Prayers-for-Kyle/129382730420956?v=wall&ref=mf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aortic_dissection
this is the front of the card for Kyle, with a unique character designed and drawn by my creative daughter Tara...it is very large and everyone can sign and leave messages on the inside! :)