Frank's Open Heart Recovery

On Tuesday September 20th, Frank was woken up by an all-too-familiar pain in his chest. It was his 5th heart attack. He was brought into the ER and while in the Cath Lab went into cartiac arrest. Out come the defib paddles, and ZAP, the doctors restarted his heart. That stabalized his heart enough for the doctor to order quadruple bypass open heart surgery. The surgery was scheduled for Friday at 9am. He was in surgery from 9am until 3:30pm. A long surgery that took an extra 2 hours than expected. A few more hours in recovery and then back up to ICU. He should be in the ICU until Monday. This all depends on how he does while in the ICU and that there is no setbacks. Hopefully by Wednesday he will be able to be discharged. And then it is on to an inpatient rehab facility. That will give him the time to heal to where he can stay home by himself. His breastplate recovery and healing will take 8 weeks. And his entire recovery will take between 3-6 months. And that means he won't be able to work. Since Lousiana has no temporary disability insurance or any type of disability insurance, he will have no income. We hope that this campaign fund will help with covering his daily expenses. 

As all that know the Avanzo family, this type of plea is very out of character. We all do what we can for each other. Unfortunately in this case, Frank is in Louisiana with out any family that can be there to help. Traveling for Frank anywhere is out of the question (we all suggested to come either to RI or GA or VA) but during the recovery process, travel is not advised. 

Anything that you can give is more than greatful and appreciated. The entire Avanzo Family thanks you.