A Few of Our Many
Heart Warriors
Through the support of our amazing community and the generosity of those who believe in our mission, we’ve been able to make a real difference in the lives of families affected by Congenital Heart Disease (CHD).
Over the last five years, we’ve had the honor of helping many incredible families navigate their CHD journeys. We couldn’t have done it without the unwavering support of our donors, volunteers, and the heart families who have shared their stories and strength with us along the way.
​
Through McCoix’s Mission, we’ve been able to assist families with essential needs such as living expenses, everyday necessities, clothing, blankets, gas cards, and food—all with the goal of easing the burden during incredibly difficult times. It’s not just about financial help; it’s about showing families they are not alone in this fight.
Hi, I’m Lincoln! My momma calls me Big Boy Lincoln or even Stinkin’ Lincoln when it’s time for a diaper change because apparently I can really clear a room. Anyway, enough of the diaper talk; I’m here to tell you my story. I was born on 8/3/21. The doctors knew I’d need some help with my heart. They found that I had organs in different places in my body (heterotaxy) including my heart on my right side (dextrocardia) and my heart pointed the wrong way. It was really hard for them to understand how my heart was functioning while I was inside mommy’s tummy. I guess you could say God plumbed my body pretty special. So there was only one thing the doctors knew for certain; I’d need at least 1 heart surgery after birth.
This was a big shock to mommy and daddy so they prepared as best they could, with the love of family, friends and my big 1 (almost 2) year old sister at the time. They made arrangements job-wise and financially to ensure they’d be available to be by my side as often as possible. When I decided to come meet my mommy and daddy, it was only 1 week early.
And boy did I surprise a lot of doctors. I never told them when I was in mommy’s belly that I also have lung disease. Doctors scratched their brains trying to figure out why I kept getting sicker and sicker the first couple days of life. They even had to prepare my mommy and daddy that I may be going to heaven. They were so scared but I knew I wanted to stay with them longer so I kept showing them more about me. After lots of testing (including genetic testing) they found out I have PCD (Primary Ciliary Dyskenesia). PCD is a cousin to cystic fibrosis, my cilia do not move therefore I need treatments and lots of coughing to keep mucus from building in my airways. This diagnosis helped doctors to start understand why organs may have ended up in different places in my body (also missing one, my spleen!) as I was formed in the womb.
Next was to figure out this crazy plumbed heart of mine. Boy did I have a lot going on. Beyond my heterotaxy and dextrocardia; Pulmonary valve atresia, single ventricle, and MAPCAs were some of the things they found. With this new knowledge, my doctors reached out to Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital at Stanford in Palo Alto, CA to see if they would take on my surgery since it was not able to be performed here at home. They said yes!
After 75 long days in the NICU, mommy and daddy brought me home to meet my sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends. It was so fun seeing everyone they told me about.
My mommy and daddy were rockstars waking up at all hours of the night for months on end. They always made sure I had my meds, treatments, oxygen, milk, and lots of love! I sure didn’t make this transition easy on them, but boy did they do great! Even my big sister Korah who was used to being an only child did a great job with me coming in man of the house. She walked around calling me Buddy for a few months which I thought was weird at first but then figured out it’s because she couldn’t say my name yet, so I allowed it.
Fast forward to January 2022, daddy drove us all down to Stanford where we stayed until April while I received my first heart surgery; a Unifocalization (combining my MAPCAs), building pulmonary arteries, and placing a central shunt. I made so many friends and my parents learned so much about how to care and advocate for me. I’m so proud of them!
Since then, I’ve had another trip to Stanford and will continue to every 6 months until they find it’s time for my second heart surgery to finish off corrections of my heart. Mommy says we’re heading there in 1 month for another check.
My life has been pretty hectic, lots of ups and downs, but I’m a fighter and this is only the beginning! Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers. Bye-bye for now!
Love, Lincoln
TYLER
​
Tylers mom was six months pregnant when she learned her son, had hypo-plastic left heart syndrome. This is a heart defect that makes it difficult for blood to flow through the body properly. They were told if she didn't immediately have in-utero surgery, her son's survival rate was below 10%. They were able to go to Boston Children Hospital where they performed a surgery in which they inserted a tiny balloon in his valve to allow for blood flow. The surgeries increased Tyler's survival rate to 60% and he was born in May 2018. He's had six surgeries since birth, and continued to thrive.
In March of 2022, Tylers parents were told that he was experiencing heart failure, along with a list of other problems that would eventually follow. Tyler was able to have surgery but succumbed to his heart disease days before his fourth birthday.
​
We will always keep Tyler and his family in our thoughts and prayers.
KARL
Karl was born very sick in January 2021. At 11 days old he was transferred from Kootenai Health to Seattle Childrens Hospital where he spent his next 13 months. At 5 weeks old, on his due date, Karl received a liver transplant due to a virus that affected his organs. As we prepared to discharge after transplant, a routine scan showed that he was born with 2 forms of CHD.
He has abnormal formation of the heart including extra veins. He also has Pulmonary Vein Stenosis, narrowing of the veins between the heart and lungs. His case is considered critical. Most children born with PVS outgrow it around age 2.
Karl will not outgrow his. To date, he has had 20 heart cath procedures to dilate the veins, and the last one yielded little success. He is now awaiting open heart surgery, but we aren't sure where or when it will take place yet.
During Heart Month we were able to deliver 12 gift bags to the PICU, where they have been handed out to families that are inpatient with children who have congenital heart disease. We know of at least five patients that have received these bags and that couldn’t have happened without the support of our community, the sponsorships we are given, the donations that come in and the outpouring love and support from those who attend and are a part of our annual golf tournament, so thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
The bags were filled with blankets for the parents, journals, gift cards to Thomas Hammer (the coffee shop in the hospital), lovies and of course blankets for the children as well. We want to make sure that the families have something comfortable while they are there. The journals are something that Alex and I hold very dear to our hearts, as it was something that Alex wrote in, every single day McCoix was inpatient. The journal is something we can always go back on an see just what was happening while we were there, because a lot of the time it was a blur…thank goodness for pictures. We also included the story of McCoix and what his mission is all about in hopes to help those that may need it.
