The Taejah Bowman Foundation

     Taejah Bowman was born on May 10, 1991. She was born with a disease called gastroschisis, which is a condition where a defect causes a hole in the abdominal wall. Her intestines came out of an opening in her stomach. When she was born surgeons tried to put her intestines back into place but their attempts failed. They had become gangrenous, as a result almost all of her small bowel was removed and part of her liver had died. The doctors said that she wouldn't make it, but after three months in the neonatal unit, she was able to come home.

     Taejah wasn’t able to absorb food without intestines, so she was placed on TPN and was fed intravenously for eighteen hours a day for the first five years of her life. There are many risks and complications associated with the use of TPN. For Taejah it provided nutrition and sustained her life, but it was also causing more damage to her liver and therefore was not a suitable long term course of treatment. Taejah’s doctor suggested that we have her evaluated for a small intestine transplant at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. We were told that a transplant would give Taejah a better quality of life and was also her best chance to live a longer life. It was determined that she was an eligible candidate for the transplant, but we were also told that there were no guarantees that the surgery would be a success. In fact the odds were against Taejah because intestine transplants were still considered experimental. Back then, intestine transplants were one of the most difficult organs to transplant, because of the high risks for infection and rejection.

     On June 26, 1996 Taejah was the 200^th person in the world to receive a small intestine transplant. Taejah did extremely well for a very long time, about ten years. She lived a great life in spite of the countless hours spent in hospitals, the many outpatient procedures, trips to the emergency room, medi-vac flights to Pittsburgh, hundreds of needle sticks, check ups and literally thousands of pills that were taken to maintain her transplanted bowel.

     In November of 2007 Taejah’s body went into crisis and she almost died. She lived but she lost her transplanted bowel. Taejah fought for her life in the PICU at Albany Medical center for three months. She over came sepsis and she even had to learn how to walk all over again. Then she spent another month on the pediatrics floor before she was finally discharged. Taejah was so sick when she came home, but she was extremely grateful and very happy to be alive.  Even though her life had changed dramatically, she never gave up hope, stopped fighting or dreaming.  Taejah was a survivor in every sense of the word. 

     Taejah went back on TPN fluids, she had to have a J-tube, a G-tube, a colostomy bag, and lots of medication to suatain her life and to help manage the constant pain that she experienced. Taejah lost her small intestine. Her stomach, liver and pancreas were as also damaged as well and as result her name was placed back on the transplant waiting list.

   On April 26, 2007 Taejah was given a third chance at life, the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh called and said that they found a compatible donor for her. So we flew back to Pittsburgh for a second transplant. Taejah was going to receive multiple organs this time, five. She needed a liver, small intestines, large intestines, pancreas and a stomach. After several hours of surgery we were told that the transplant was a success, Taejah had beaten the odds once again.

     Taejah spent another three months in the hospital before she was discharged as an outpatient. Her doctors gave us permission to bring her back to NY for a home visit. During that time, Taejah passed her permit test, on her first try. She drove for her first time and she got the chance to spend time with her family and truest friends, Bonnie and Alyssa.

     On August 8, 2007 Taejah had an aneurysm and was admitted back into Albany Medical Center. She was air lifted to the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, where she had an emergency surgery to repair the aneurysm. When she came out of the surgery she was placed in the intensive care unit for another eighteen days.

     On August 26, 2007, Taejah began hemmorrhaging blood and was rushed back to surgery. That was Taejah’s last and final operation, she went home to be with the Lord around 10:00am.

   Taejah was an amazing wonderful compassionate child, she was courageous, kind, strong and extremely loving. She was beautiful inside and out! Taejah was also blessed with a wonderful singing voice and she eagerly shared her gift to touch many lives. In spite of all of Taejah’s problems, she lived her life with style and grace. She was a fighter who made the most out of the opportunities that she was given and she never allowed her difficult days and journey to break her spirit.  If one word was used to describe Taejah, it would be “awesome”, because she truly was! She is missed dearly and thought of every day by her friends and loved ones.

     Taejah had two transplants, which allowed her to see and do many things that she would not have been able to do, had she not had them. The transplants provided us the opportunity to create a lot of cherished memories and more importantly they gave Taejah time and a chance to enjoy life. The idea of being on the waiting list gave our family hope in a hopeless situation, which allowed us to make it through each day and long nights. That and a strong faith kept us from giving up even when things looked the absolute worst.

       FACTS ABOUT ME

                  By: Taejah

 My Name: Taejah Bowman

My Birthday: May 10, 1991

My Favorite Colors: Blue and Purple

My Favorite singer: Because I like so many artists it is hard to say, but if I had to choose one I would say Mariah Carey because of her powerful voice.

My Favorite food: I  don't have a favorite food because I would eat almost anything. If its food I'll eat it...

 What I like to do in my spare time: Watch TV mostly, I like to sing and dance, write my own songs and do a little designing. I like to shop and hang out with my friends. I also love to spend time with my family, and just relax at home.

 My goals in life: Some of my goals in life are going to college and studying music and Culinary Arts. Maybe even some medical stuff... I haven't decided what I want to be when I grow up, although I do have some ideas.  I plan to finish college, get a profession and hopefully start a family when the time is right, and I plan on living for a long time...

Please become an organ and tissue donor and let your family know about your wonderful desire to help prolong someone else’s life...