Forest, Children's Hospital Colorado patient crossing the finish line at the 2024 Courage Classic
For two weeks, Joey appeared to be a normal newborn. At 14 days old he took a dramatic turn and went into cardiogenic shock, requiring immediate admission to the cardiac ICU at Children’s Hospital Colorado. In the those early days in the CICU, the team would come to diagnose Joey with a heart condition stemming from a genetic anomaly requiring assessment for heart transplant.
Joey spent 47 days in the hospital, 37 of which in the CICU. From intubation, paralysis, and sedation in his first week at the hospital, he has since graduated to no longer needing oxygen and being discharged home with medication to manage his heart condition.
In those 47 days, the Heart Institute and CICU teams became family. Because Joey was so new to the world, a nickname hadn’t yet been decided for him. Every morning during rounds his care team would help workshop a new nickname and it quickly became the unit game of finding new monikers for him. Depending on who you ask, his name could be JT, JoJo, Joe-nut the Donut, or the beloved Joe-tato Chip. Joey’s family now refers to many of the nurses on his care team as his aunties, uncles, and cousins thanks to the love they showed Joey
and his parents.
While Joey will require lifelong monitoring and continued evaluation for heart transplant, he and his family are endlessly thankful to the CICU and Heart Institute for saving his life.
