From the Heart, for the Heart

Laurel Cole is an amazing single mom.  Active in Roller Derby, she is a terrific leader and founder of  a major support group for domestic violence survivors, Laurel has overcome some of life's greatest obstacles and is a tremendous role model for women everywhere.  

As a mother, my heart goes out to her as she struggles with possibly her greatest challenge to date.  Her son, Ryan, a bright, active eleven year old, suffers from Supraventricular Tachycardia, (SVT,) a heart condition that may become fatal when it happens frequently.



Ryan is an active, all-around American boy, he's a member of Junior Achievment USA, plays in his school orchestra and on the football team, and is a great brother to his younger sister.   He needs surgery to repair the defect causing the condition, so he can return to normal activities without fear of another, possibly fatal, episode. 

Laurel shared the following information with me.

"Ryan was diagnosed with SVT, Supraventricular Tachycardia, a month ago. This is a heart rhythm disorder that arises from improper electrical activity in the heart. This causes his heart beat to cycle on an abnormally high and dangerous rate.

He has been hospitalized twice already and required his heart to be reset with the use of an IV medication. There are no triggers, no warning signs, and no way to prevent these episodes from occurring.

The cardiologist has him taking beta blockers temporarily, which will hopefully hold off another episode until he can get the procedure to fix the SVT.

The 2 hospitalizations have already added up to a large amount of money, and the cost of the procedure will not be known until about a week before it is scheduled to occur.

Ryan will be consulting with the doctor about the procedure on December 1st, which will consist of going up to the heart through his groin vein and either burning or freezing the area of his heart that is causing the issue."

Laurel is already in debt for thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket medical expenses, and Christmas is coming.  Your donations mean the world to this family, no matter what you can afford, every gift is appreciated.