Prior to undergoing his second heart transplant last October, Donny Pitcher, left, enjoyed a variety of sports and activities, including this trip to the fair with his cousins Colin, center, and Chase Curi. The anti-rejection medication has forced the 15-year-old member of St. Therese the Little Flower Parish, Kenosha, to go on kidney dialysis. (Photo courtesy of Pitcher Family)

By Karen Mahoney, Special to your Catholic Herald

Hundreds of collector cards fuel Donny Pitcher’s interest in football and baseball. Memories of sticky, steamy days catching balls on the field prior to the big game bring anticipation for the next summer’s league, while a computer, games and music round out the boy’s interests. Dreams bounce between a career as a banker or teacher.

These dreams stand in contrast to rows of pill bottles, oxygen tanks, IV bags, a portable kidney dialysis machine, and a bevy of medical supplies in Donny’s Winthrop Harbor, Ill. home.

At 15, Donny straddles two worlds. He is a teenager who wants to participate in sports and go out with friends. He is also the recent recipient of a heart to replace an organ weakened by coronary artery disease. The disease was a result of complications from his first heart transplant, when he was one month old.

The medical and emotional traumas have robbed him of some of his youthful preoccupations, but those losses have been replaced with a newfound wisdom, sharper goals, and, more than anything, a deeper knowledge of God’s love and his home in heaven.

“He is an amazing kid and a role model for others — he even told his doctors he isn’t afraid of dying and was calm and peaceful when he told them,” said Jeanne Pitcher, Donny’s mother and a Kenosha native. “He never complains and is strong and courageous. He has a strong faith and knows there is a reason for all of this; he gets so many letters from friends, cousins and people we don’t even know who tell him what a great role model he is for others.”

After Donny’s initial heart transplant for a congenital heart defect, Jeanne and Donald, Donny’s father, learned to relax and enjoy each day with their only child. Although he took rejection medications, he lived 14 years without a complication.

Last July, Donny began exhibiting symptoms of organ rejection along with other health issues, and with treatment in the hospital, he began improving. In September, the family was dealt with a second blow.

“Donny was supposed to have a routine biopsy done in September to see how he was doing,” she said. “The night before, he was complaining of chest pain or a funny feeling in his chest. That was strange because he had never complained of anything like that before. I wanted to bring him to the E.R., but he insisted he would be OK until going to the hospital the next day.”

Uncharacteristic for the athletic teen was the difficulty he experienced while walking from the car to the hospital the next morning. He had to sit down twice on his way in, and that’s when Jeanne really knew something was wrong.

“He began having a heart attack that day prior to the biopsy,” Jeanne said. “His internal pressures were high and that led to a major heart attack. If we hadn’t been there, I don’t know how things would have turned out … it’s funny how things work out like that.”

Donny’s body had begun rejection of his heart, forcing him to be placed on total life support while they waited for another donor heart. The anguish of the waiting was two-fold for the Pitchers, as they struggled with the ramifications if a heart could not be found and awareness of what it meant if a donor could be found.

“It was a horrible, awful feeling because we knew he couldn’t last like that for a long period of time — he was getting sicker and sicker each day,” Jeanne admitted. “And then it was so horrible because our only hope was in someone else dying. But we had to give him a chance, so we kept him on everything the medical world had to offer.”

On Oct. 18, a donor heart became available and was delivered to Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Hoping and praying alongside the family, were members of their home parish, St. Therese of the Little Flower in Kenosha. Donny, until he became ill was a student at North Prairie Jr. High School in Winthrop Harbor, and is a graduate of St. Therese School, Kenosha.

“They were just wonderful, very supportive and are always praying for him,” Jeanne said. “Our priest (Fr. Michael Nowak) talks about him at Mass, and gives the school children and the parish updates on his condition. After he had the successful transplant, the whole school cheered!”

The family’s steadfast faith and knowledge of God’s ultimate plan gives them courage to overcome each hurdle.

A faith strongly grasped, as first, an abscess formed along his incision line, and again as Donny’s kidneys began to fail.

“The anti-rejection drugs took a toll on his kidneys,” Jeanne said. “He has no kidney function so he is on dialysis every night at home.”

A kidney transplant is out of the question for now, until doctors can eliminate the BK virus that attacked his kidneys.

“We are at a Catch-22 right now,” Jeanne affirmed. “He is still exhibiting mild rejection, so we cannot reduce the amount of steroids he is taking, and because of the virus in his system, he can’t have the transplant. His immunity medications are also high, but eventually we hope to lower them so the virus will clear from his system — but there is nothing we can do right now.”

In order to care for Donny’s needs, Jeanne has taken leave of absence from her job as a nurse in a special education school. Because Donny was covered under Jeanne’s insurance, she and Donald, a corrections officer for the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, have been paying the monthly COBRA premiums of $1,000 out of their personal savings.

“Once Donny is stabilized I would like to go back to work so the regular insurance would kick in, but right now I am needed with him,” she said. “Fortunately, the insurance we do have covers all of his home care, therapy, IV antibiotics, oxygen and dialysis; it just gets very difficult making those monthly payments when I am not working.”

During one of the family’s more difficult months, St. Therese Parish came though with a significant cash donation for the family. According to a member of the St. Therese staff, the parish took their fifth Sunday collection in January and deposited it into the Donny Pitcher Fund at Midwest Bank in Zion.

“We just felt the need,” said a staff member who wished to remain anonymous. “They are a very nice family, they help out at many of our festivals and events, and we felt bad for all that they were going through.”

For the Pitchers, the donation came as a welcome surprise, and allowed them to remain current with the insurance payments.

The family has no bitterness or anger toward God. Rather, the Pitchers say their faith has only grown in the knowledge that God is watching over them and that they are part of a more grandiose plan … perhaps a greater trust, or more intimate relationship with Jesus, or possibly a miracle.

“Our faith was strong before, but it is even stronger now,” admitted Jeanne. “The whole family is consecrated to the Sacred Heart and we don’t question it; we just take one day at a time. One thing I do everyday is to pray a rosary for Donny’s healing and pray to John Paul II for a miracle; and I do hope Donny becomes one of his first.”

A fund has been set up for those wishing to help the family with medical expenses.

Donnie Pitcher Fund
First Midwest bank
3303 Sheridan Rd.
Zion, IL 60099
(847) 746-3011

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