Staci’s Fight

06/22/2026

For years, we kept most of this to ourselves.

Now we’re telling the whole story.

Heart transplant. Recovery. Family. Caregiving. Relationships. The hard days, the funny days, and everything in between.

🎙️ Procedure in Progress
🫀 Episode 1 drops 8/9/26

TikTok | Make Your Day

06/17/2026

For months, many of you followed along as Staci’s health declined, her wait for a heart grew longer, and ultimately as she received her heart transplant on April 24, 2026.

Many of you prayed, encouraged us, checked on us, and helped carry our family through one of the hardest seasons of our lives.

What we’ve learned through this journey is that there are so many stories that never get told.

That’s why we’re creating Procedure in Progress.

This podcast will cover the entire journey. Life before, during, and after major medical procedures. The fear, the waiting, the recovery, the victories, the setbacks, the family moments, and the things that happen when the cameras and updates stop.

While Staci’s heart transplant journey will be a major part of the podcast, it won’t be the only story. We’ll also be talking with other patients, caregivers, family members, and medical professionals about the realities of facing life-changing medical challenges.

We just finished our trailer and wanted to share it with all of you.

Thank you for walking this journey with us.

🎙️ Procedure in Progress

Episode 1 premieres August 9, 2026, on Staci’s 41st birthday.

A day worth celebrating. A story worth telling.

06/16/2026

Day 53 Post-Transplant Update ❤️🫀

Yesterday was biopsy day, and thankfully everything looked pretty good. Staci is a little low on potassium, so they’re keeping an eye on that, but overall the transplant team is happy with how things are going. I also realized I forgot to mention in the last couple of updates that Staci is still sitting at zero rejection. For a family that’s spent months holding its breath, that’s a pretty incredible thing to hear.

Today we had an appointment with Dr. Pawale (hopefully I’m getting that close). One of the coolest moments was watching him show Staci her new heart on the echo. Seeing that heart beating away on the screen is something that’s hard to put into words. After everything we’ve been through, seeing that healthy heart doing exactly what it’s supposed to do is a blessing we don’t take for granted.

The other big news is that he officially cleared Staci to drive short distances, which made her extremely happy. I think she was getting tired of having a full-time chauffeur. I’m not sure I’m ready for her to be back behind the wheel, but nobody asked me. 🤣

Dr. Pawale told us she’s doing great. He also talked about how when we first started this process, Staci always seemed to understand everything he was explaining. We joked around, asked questions, and even used some dark humor along the way to make the hard days a little easier. He said we made this whole process easier for him.

What he didn’t know until we told him is that he made this whole process easier for us.

He took time to explain things when we didn’t understand. He answered questions we didn’t even know to ask. He checked on us constantly. There were days he practically shoved me out the door and told me to go take a break. If he couldn’t make it by, he’d call the nurses to check on things. He never treated us like just another patient.

Throughout this entire journey, he has been a blessing to our family. We’ll never forget the care, compassion, and time he gave us during some of the hardest days of our lives.

Thank you all again for the prayers, support, messages, meals, donations, and encouragement. Every good report feels like another step forward.

53 days ago we were waiting on a miracle. Today we’re talking about biopsy results, driving privileges, sourdough, and normal life stuff again. That’s something we’re incredibly thankful for. ❤️🫀🏠

06/11/2026

Day 48 Post Transplant ❤️

This really isn’t a medical update. It’s a journey update.

Most of you probably don’t know this, but about two years ago Staci and I started building a tiny house. With everything going on with her heart, we weren’t sure what the future would look like, so we decided to start building it. From the very beginning we had family and friends helping us, donating their time, knowledge, labor, and encouragement along the way. We didn’t take out bank loans or financing. We just built as we could and kept moving forward. Then we hit a brick wall.

As Staci’s heart continued to fail, the tiny house got pushed further and further down the priority list. There were plenty of times I looked at that unfinished building and thought, “How in the hell am I ever going to get this done now?” Then came the transplant journey.

As so many of you know, we’ve spent the last several months asking for prayers. And while Staci was in the hospital, something incredible happened. People showed up. Some donated money. Some donated materials. Some donated labor. Some shared their wisdom. Some simply showed up and helped however they could. Today, I can honestly say that little tiny house is basically move-in ready.

We’ll be posting pictures soon.
I don’t want to start naming names because I know I’ll accidentally leave someone out, but every single person who helped knows who they are. Feel free to give yourselves a pat on the back in the comments because you earned it. I also want to give a huge shoutout to the kids: Baylor, Kori, Marli, Charlie, Oakley, Warner, and Caroline. Whether they were having paint parties, accidentally getting fresh paint where it definitely wasn’t supposed to go, or busting their tails helping build a deck that’s almost bigger than the house itself, they’ve been a part of this journey too.

And one more round of applause for Marli. She put in an application yesterday, had an interview today, and got offered the job. That’s a pretty good turnaround.

This transplant journey has taught us a lot. Sometimes prayers aren’t answered in big dramatic moments. Sometimes they’re answered through people. Through friends, family, neighbors, and complete strangers who decide to help carry a load that isn’t theirs.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. ❤️

48 days post transplant. Somehow you’ve got a new heart, a nearly finished house, and kids building decks larger than the structure they’re attached to. Human beings are weird, but that’s a pretty good chapter in the story.

06/08/2026

❤️ Day 45 Post-Transplant | One Week Home ❤️

Today marks Day 45 since Staci’s heart transplant and one full week back home.

The last week has been filled with family time, playing with the kids, making sourdough, and getting back to some sense of normal life. After months of hospitals, apartments, doctor appointments, biopsies, and waiting, being home is something we’ve dreamed about for a long time.

This week Staci had a great visit with her P*P. Next week we have another biopsy, and we’ll also be meeting with Dr. Pawale for chest X-rays to make sure everything is healing properly. We’re hoping she might get cleared to start driving again.

One thing we’re keeping a close eye on is that she’s gained about 9 pounds of fluid in the last week, so we’re in communication with the transplant team and following their recommendations. Other than that, things continue moving in the right direction.

For everyone asking what’s next, Staci has big plans.

🍞 She’s making just about every sourdough creation imaginable and has been having a blast doing it.

🎙️ Her podcast is still on track to launch in Late Summer 2026, where she’ll share her journey through congenital heart disease, transplant life, family life, and everything in between.

❤️ She plans to continue advocating for organ donation and helping others facing similar battles.

🤣 Most importantly, she’s enjoying the little things she fought so hard to get back to. Family dinners, kids running through the house, sleeping in her own bed, being home… and annoying Dakota with a never-ending list of house projects and things she wants built for her sourdough business. Apparently surviving a heart transplant unlocked a whole new level of honey-do lists. If it’s not shelves, it’s a bread station. If it’s not a bread station, it’s reorganizing something. Some things really do mean life is getting back to normal.

Thank you all for the prayers, messages, support, donations, meals, and encouragement throughout this entire journey. We truly couldn’t have made it this far without all of you.

One week home.
45 days with a new heart.
A lifetime still ahead of her.

❤️🫀

06/01/2026

Day 38 Post Heart Transplant ❤️

2026 recap so far…

This year has already felt like a whole damn lifetime. In early January, Staci started having stroke-like symptoms. We went to the hospital, and nobody could really figure out what was going on.

On January 13th, she was admitted to Barnes in St. Louis.

On January 30th, she was officially listed as Status 4.

On February 5th, she finally got discharged with an IV and home health coming once a week.

Then on April 6th, everything changed again. She had another stroke-like episode at home. She was life-flighted from the house to Tulsa, then flown by airplane to St. Louis.

On April 15th, the hospital filed for her to be moved to Status 2E.

On April 20th, that was officially accepted.

And then on April 23rd, we got the call.

They had a potential heart for her.

On April 24th, Staci got her heart transplant.

Now here we are…

June 1st. Dakota’s birthday. Day 38 after transplant.

And we are finally headed home.

Not just driving home.
Not just leaving the hospital.
We are bringing her home after months of fear, prayers, waiting, stress, tears, helicopter rides, airplane rides, IVs, home health, hospital rooms, transplant statuses, and enough paperwork to make a normal person lose their damn mind.

This road home means more than I can even explain.

Staci has fought her whole life with the heart she was born with, and now she’s coming home with a new one.

New heart.
New chance.
Same badass Staci.

Let’s go home. ❤️

05/29/2026

Day 35 post heart transplant ❤️

Not a huge update today, but that’s honestly not a bad thing. Staci has another biopsy Monday, so we’re praying everything continues to look good and that her new heart keeps doing exactly what it’s supposed to do. They’re still saying coming home is probably a few months away, which is hard to hear, but we also know this process can’t be rushed. She’s in really good spirits for the most part. She’s just ready to come home. And honestly, who could blame her? Hospital walls and being away from home gets old real quick.

I also wanted to share this picture because it says a lot without needing a whole book written under it.

One side represents the heart she was born with. The TGA heart. The heart that fought every day. The heart that carried pain, surgeries, exhaustion, fear, bad days, silent battles, and things most people never saw.
That old heart was broken in ways most people will never fully understand, but it also fought like hell for her. It kept her here as long as it possibly could. The other side represents her new heart.

A donor heart.
A second chance.
A new chapter.
A new story.

This isn’t just “same heart, healed.” This is new heart, new story. We will never forget what her old heart survived, and we will never stop being thankful for the donor, the donor family, the doctors, the nurses, and every person who has prayed for us, helped us, checked on us, or followed along.

Day 35.

Still here.
Still fighting.
Still healing.
New heart.
New story. ❤️

05/26/2026

Day 31 Post Heart Transplant

OMG. A whole month.

Honestly that doesn’t even feel real typing out. Thirty one days ago we were sitting in complete shock, terrified, exhausted, hopeful, and trying to process that this was actually happening. Now here we are a month later. Staci has officially lost 20 pounds of fluid in the last 10 days 🎉 which is HUGE and one massive step closer to finally coming home. We actually have a date in mind now for coming home too 👀 We’re praying everything keeps going the way it is and that nothing changes, but transplant life has definitely taught us not to count chickens before they hatch. One day at a time. But for the first time in a long time… home actually feels close.

And now for the exciting news…

“Procedure In Progress” podcast is officially coming Late Summer 2026 🎙️

This whole journey has changed our lives forever and we want to tell the REAL side of it all. Not the sugar coated Facebook version. The real fear, the setbacks, the parenting side, the relationship side, the exhaustion, the humor, the survival mode, the gratitude, and everything in between. We’ve lived a lifetime in 31 days. Thank you guys for praying, supporting us, checking in, sending food, messages, gifts, and just loving our family through all of this. We see every bit of it even when we’re slow answering.

One whole month with her new heart.
That’s crazy to even say out loud.

05/21/2026

Day 27 post heart transplant

One thing nobody really talks about enough is the sleep deprivation that comes with being the teammate through all this. For months I’ve basically ran on 2-3 hours of sleep at a time. Adrenaline, stress, hospital chairs, constant thoughts, alarms, doctors walking in, making sure meds are right, making sure she’s okay. You just keep going because the person beside you needs you more than you need sleep. But this week it’s finally catching up to me. I’ve honestly been more tired than I’ve ever been in my life. The weird part is you don’t really allow yourself to feel it in the moment. You just stay moving. You stay focused. You stay strong because somebody has to.

I also want to share something that really stuck with me.

A friend of a friend is currently going through the transplant process too, and they told me their hospital only allows very short visits each day and doesn’t allow their spouse to keep their phone with them most of the time. When I first heard that, I honestly thought it sounded diabolical. I couldn’t imagine it. I felt like I needed to be there 24/7 through all this, and if I wasn’t there, I wanted her to have her phone in case something happened or she needed me. So I asked why the hospital was so strict. The explanation actually made sense. The hospital changed protocols recently to reduce exposure risks, help transplant patients truly rest, and prevent stress or overstimulation while they’re on heavy steroids and recovering. Some patients would try to work nonstop or stay mentally “on” constantly if they had full access to everything. And honestly… I give those families so much credit because I truly don’t know if I could mentally handle doing this that way. It reminded me that every transplant journey looks different. Every hospital is different. Every teammate handles it differently. There’s no perfect way to survive this stuff. You just love your person the best you can and keep showing up every day even when your body and mind are running on fumes.