Blanca Jeffery / Mechanical Heart

My name is Brad Foster and I have been a friend of Arts for 25 years and a friend of Blanca’s, his wife, ever since he married her and brought her to Louisiana. Anyone that knows Blanca knows first and foremost, she loves the Lord and is Christian. They also know that Blanca is, or was, one of the hardest working people in their life. Blanca is self-employed as she started a maid service several years back. I can assure you that everyone of Blanca’s clients can say, without a doubt, that Blanca was the best maid/house keeper they have ever had in their home. She was trustworthy and went above and beyond just doing the ordinary things. All of that changed in July of 2016 in which Blanca was diagnosed with an enlarged heart and had a defibrillator/pacemaker implanted into her in October 2016. Blanca continued to work full time, with a smile on her face and praising God at all times, until she suffered a mild stroke on October 15th, 2017. Then on November 11th, 2017, her heart rate jumped up to 251 beats per minute and the only thing that saved her life that day was the continuous “zapping” of the defibrillator she had previously implanted in her. Mundane things such as just walking from her living room to kitchen became an obstacle, due to her extremely getting a severe lack of breath. It is because of this, she had to stop doing any and all of her maid/housekeeping services, which has basically left her unemployed with Art, who is self employed, being the only source of income for them. Her Alexandria physician sent her in January of 2018 to Ochsners Hospital, in New Orleans, to be seen by cardiac specialist down there. It was there they diagnosed her with less than 10% of her heart functioning and recommended she either be put on a heart transplant list or have a mechanical “heart” surgically implanted. This procedure is called a LVAD, Left Ventricular Assist Device. In a nutshell, a mechanical pump will be placed in her abdominal cavity and will take the place of her heart pumping the blood throughout her body. It will be powered by an external battery system. She has a follow up visit at Ochsners in New Orleans on March 9th in which a surgery date will be immediately set for this procedure. She will be hospitalized in New Orleans several weeks and will have to stay in housing down there for up to 5 mos post this surgical procedure to be monitored by her surgical team to ensure that the body is accepting, and not rejecting, this “machine”. Art will be by her side as much as possible during these stressful times. Insurance will NOT cover any of these housing cost and will only pay for small percentage of the medications she will have to take, as well as the procedure and extended hospital stay. This procedure has to be done in order for Blanca to continue to live. It is because of the above issues, I am creating this page. I would encourage any of you that either Blanca or Art have touched thru their friendships with u or thru their professional relationships with u, from cleaning homes (Blanca) to finishing carpentry work (Art), to please reach deep in your pockets and help these 2 financially. They have provided so many good things to others and would never ask for any of this - that’s what I’m here for. More importantly, please say prayers for both of them as they go thru these upcoming difficult times. Again, thank you for your time in reading this, your prayers for both of them, and most importantly, your financial contribution.