As many of you may know Julie was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy at the age of 11 and was told she would have to limit her physical activities which meant giving up gymnastics and cheerleading, the two things she really loved. She followed the cheerleaders and gymnastics team as a sideline spectator and became very active in clubs and student government.
On May 21,1993, Julie suffered a cardiac arrest and after five weeks in the hospital, a bout with pneumonia, memory loss, and heart surgery to implant a defibrillator, was released from the hospital and told that she would be even more limited than before on her physical activity. On January 31,1995, Julie suffered her second cardiac arrest however her defibrillator functioned as it was designed to and shocked the heart back into a regular rhythm and she was able to return to school the next day.
Julie did not let her serious heart condition stop her from living a normal life. She went off to college at Auburn University instead of living at home and going to the University of Alabama and was very active in her sorority Sigma Kappa, served as a basketball hostess and graduated with Honors in August 1999 with a degree in Mass Communications.
Julie moved back to Birmingham and lived with Mom and Dad and went to work at Hanna Steel where she worked until 2004 when her heart condition became worse and she had to quit. In 2004 Julie and her sister Amy moved into their first house in Hoover, Alabama. Between 2004 and 2009 Julie had several arrhythmia attacks. In 2009 Julie’s heart became much worse and she was having a lot of trouble breathing and more frequent arrhythmia attacks.
In February 2009 Julie was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and was placed on the heart transplant list in July. God answered our calls on Friday, June 4, 2010 at 2:45P.M. when Julie received her call from her heart transplant coordinator telling her to get to the hospital as fast as she could because they had a heart. So at 6:15 P.M. Dr. McGiffin started Julie’s heart transplant and at 10:30P.M. he finished. But that is not the end of the story “It’s the Beginning”. God has now given Julie the opportunity to go forward with her life and make a difference in the world – and I can’t wait to watch!
Funding the uninsured expenses related to Julie’s transplant is the next challenge – a challenge she cannot meet without support. Even with her health insurance the doctors estimate her post-transplant annual medical care will exceed $12,000. In addition, the anti-rejection drugs required for the lifetime of all transplants recipients will average $1,500 per month. To help offset Julie’s uninsured transplant-related costs, a fundraising campaign has been established with HelpHOPELive. HelpHOPELive is a nonprofit organization that has been providing assistance to the transplant community for over 26 years. All contributions are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution:
Make checks payable to:
HelpHOPELive Southeast Heart Transplant Fund
Print in memo section of check:
In Honor of Julia Monroe
Please send to:
HelpHOPELive
Two Radnor Corporate Center100 Matsonford Road, Suite 100
Radnor, PA 19087
For credit card contributions, call 800-642-8399 or select the CONTRIBUTE NOW button.
To email this page directly to others in your community who might wish to learn about this campaign, click the E-MAIL TO FRIENDS button and type in as many addresses as you wish.
On behalf of Julie and our entire family, we thank you for your help and prayers.
David Monroe Ruth Ann Monroe Amy Jordan
205-783-8262 205-491-3276 205-979-4582
Julia’s Dad Julia’s Mom Julie’s Sister
