Heart Surgery For My Brother

I created this fund for my older brother. My brother Gerardo ( standing behind my little brother and sister) is 25 years old, and lives with me, my mother and my two young siblings. He went to the hospital in 2014 because his heart “just didn’t feel right.” It was then that he learned that he has a heart defect. Because of it, he is unable to work hard labor jobs. He is not able to lift heavy items, and he can not drive or operate heavy machinery. These obstacles make having a good paying job difficult. He did recently get a part time job that requires minimum physical labor, and pays minimum wage, and the family all takes turns driving him there. Through the job he was able to get basic health insurance to get his medications. But even insurance can't keep up with the demands of today's healthcare costs.

His doctor told him that he is the youngest cardiac patient they have seen. He takes Metoprolol among others and they make him fatigued and depressed. He feels upset that he can not contribute to the house the way the rest of us can, much less live on his own in case something happens to him.

He has learned that there is a surgery that will help him, called Cardiac Ablation. Cardiac Ablation is a procedure to scar or destroy tissue in your heart that's allowing incorrect electrical signals to cause an abnormal heart rhythm. Diagnostic catheters are threaded through blood vessels to your heart where they are used to map your heart's electrical signals.

This surgery still requires a $3,000 dollar deductible. With my mother raising my two younger siblings, me helping at home as well, and putting myself through school, it has been hard to come up with the money. We are asking for help to get my brother the surgery he needs, so he can live a normal life like a 25 year old should.