Ernie's Big Heart Fund

Ernie Andrews spent all morning on Thursday, January 12 teaching English to the 7th and 8th students he loves so much, despite feeling a little short of breath. It wasn't until the afternoon that he decided to have the school nurse check him out. His heart rate was twice what it should be, particularly in a healthy 52-year-old, so she immediately called 911.  At the hospital, despite their efforts, they couldn't seem to shock his heart into a normal rhythm. It became clear that he was lucky to be alive and they could lose him at any moment. The doctors sedated him, put him in a Lifestar helicopter and took him to Yale hospital's Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.

Now on life support, they know he had heart failure, causing cardiogenic shock (his heart was weak and wasn't doing its job). Unfortunately, until they are able to get his heart functioning on its own without extensive medical assistance, its challenging to figure out why this happened, how bad the problem is, and what they can do so he will survive.  The family is just happy he is receiving top notch medical care to fix his heart.  Its hard to know how long he will be in Cardiac ICU, if he will need surgery, or what else tomorrow will bring.

While the medical team does this most important task, many of us have asked what we can do? Ernie is so fortunate to have amazing family who have rallied to his side, having to make frightening decisions about his care from minute to minute.  How we can help them is to support the difficulty this brings-- its hard to estimate, but here goes:

- copay for Lifestar helicopter could be about $500 (even though he has health insurance)

- ezcommute.net estimates one person driving to and from Yale each day could cost $888 for one month

- if one person visited him for 2 hours each day, parking at the hospital would cost $270 for the month

- handling all of Ernie's bills,  including hospital copays

While the need is difficult to predict right now, the family could use any support (however big or small). Any financial contributions have been able to go directly to his sister, ReGina Andrews Hill, so that she and her sisters have been able to take care of Ernie's finances while incapacitated, get to and from Yale to see him, and everything else that's needed during this critical time.

In thinking about Ernie, its hard to imagine there's anything wrong with his heart-- he has one of the biggest hearts we know! (Just ask his students.) In fact, one the first things he wanted to communicate to me during brief moments of consciousness was concern for his students and classes. He even had to write it since the ventilator breathing for him makes it impossible for him to speak. But everyone who knows Ernie wouldn't be surprised that he's thinking of everyone else before himself.

Thank you in advance for your help in providing support to his family in honor of Ernie's Big Heart.  Even if you're unable to help financially, we will continue accepting any and all prayers. So far they are working!

UPDATE:  Due to the unknown time Ernie will be out of work, we were honored that in a very short amount of time, his colleagues quickly donated the maximum of 30 sick days to help cover his time off!  Unfortunately, if his illness extends beyond this and requires unpaid leave, he will be required to cover his insurance premiums or he will lose his medical insurance.  For this reason, the Ernie's Big Heart fund goal has been updated to start preparing for this. Thank you to everyone!

UPDATE (1/21/17):  Ernie has continued fighting as we knew he would! Unfortunately, his heart continues to be weak. He also suffered a blood clot in his leg, though surgery was performed that saved his leg. An arrhythmia also caused the kidneys to begin failing so he is now on dialysis.

The goal for this fund has been raised as the road ahead will be longer and is more serious than even expected. The family is so grateful that they are not alone on this journey. While visitors are not permitted at the hospital, they’ve read comments and notes to Ernie so he knows how many are pulling for him!

UPDATE (1/26/17):  It's been two weeks since this all began! They had put him on ECMO last week (which takes all the blood out and does the job of the heart and lungs, then circulates it back in). They were able to successfully take him off ECMO today, which is good since they also discovered bleeding on his brain.  They will continue him on dialysis and an a ventilator and start testing to see if his heart can beat on its own. The plan is to install an artificial pump so his heart won't weaken again.

Unfortunately, despite their efforts at the last update, they were not able to save his leg. His right leg was amputated below the knee, and soon they will amputate above the knee to avoid further infection.  The road ahead (and life as he knew it) is forever changed.  We just continue to pray his life will continue as long as possible.

UPDATE (1/31/17):  It is with great sadness that we share Ernie's battle ended tonight at 6:15. The complications from his heart condition had devastating effects, so there is great relief that he is not suffering anymore. The family was quite grateful for the outpouring of support and were able to read every single message and post to him so he felt how loved he was.

The family is also humbled by the generous donations to this fund, which unfortunately is now being raised to cover the costs of his funeral arrangements.

While we are all heartbroken over his broken heart, we will never forget the smile, the joy, the love he shared for so many of us. May we all live a life so full and touch so many.