Matt Gotowski received the phone call he and his family had been waiting more than a year for while he was at a mechanic's, getting his car fixed.

Since August 2004, his son, Joey, a fifth grader at Rheems Elementary School, had been on the waiting list for an intestinal transplant, the only permanent solution to Hirschsprung's disease. The illness had gradually cost Joey his gall bladder, appendix, large intestine and 95 percent of his small intestine over the course of his 10 years of life. Hirschsprung's prevents nerve cells from developing properly in the intestines, so the brain cannot get messages to the organ to function. As a result, parts of the organ die and must be removed so that blood supply is not cut off to the remaining tissue.

Matt and Cindy Gotowski, who live in Mount Joy, were notified on Friday, Sept. 16 that an organ had become available for Joey. Within one hour after the phone call, they were on the road to the University of Pittsburgh, where the surgery would be performed. They only had six hours to reach the hospital because after that, the organ would no longer be viable.

"They told us to go to Pittsburgh but not to drive at an unsafe speed - we had plenty of time," Gotowski said. Joey's operation was performed that night at 10 p.m. and was complete at 5 a.m. the next morning.

The initial report was very positive, but as of Wednesday, Sept. 28, Joey was showing signs of rejection, a well-known complication of organ transplantation.

"We're on pins and needles," said Gotowski, who is currently dividing his time between Pittsburgh and home, where he works and cares for the Gotowskis' other two children, Megan, 14, and Alex, 12. His wife, Cindy, had to quit her job in order to be with Joey constantly during the three to six months he is expected to be hospitalized.

"It's an emotional rollercoaster because our primary focus is Joey, and we have two children back home also, and we have the house we have to take care of," Gotowski said. "We have bills to pay; we have 100 different things to do."

Though their departure was hurried, they did manage to bring a toy along with Joey and will be transporting more of his belongings with the upcoming trips back and forth to Pittsburgh.

"He's in good spirits, but he's not feeling too good today," Gotowski said of his son, who will be taking anti-rejection drugs and antibiotics for the rest of his life.

However, if all goes well, Joey will be able to eat normally instead of receiving his nutrition intravenously or through a feeding tube, as he has for quite some time. Still, Joey will not be able to be around people with colds for the time being, and will undergo constant blood tests and biopsies to monitor his recovery. His condition will always be under close scrutiny.

Several months back, the family set up The Joey Gotowski Transplant fund at Sovereign Bank in Elizabethtown to help cover the extensive costs of their son's transplant, which runs about $590,000, as well as the living expenses the Gotowskis will incur while they stay in Pittsburgh during Joey's recovery. Those costs, such as the hotel Cindy Gotowski is currently living in, are not covered by insurance.

"We're hoping now that they know that Joey has had the transplant, [the community] will actually donate," he said. "We know the community has been so much behind us and has been so good, but keep the prayers coming."

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