Ugh.
Well, it's come to this.
Not my proudest moment, but we NEED your help.
I'm Kristy, 35 year old,  mommy,  wife,  U.S. Army Veteran, and in a few days an open heart surgery survivor.

As most of you know by now from my incessant posting to Facebook (with hopes of raising awareness) I have a large aortic aneurysm that needs to be repaired via open heart surgery.  I will be having my aorta replaced and a shiny new mechanical aortic valve installed via the Bentall procedure on February 9th.

Along with the sparkling personality, intelligence, brickhouse build, uncanny sense of humor, and endless supply of dance moves my Dad gave me, he also gave me a Bicuspid Aortic Valve. Apparently, this much genetic awesomeness can disrupt the formation of import organs...like your heart and my main pipe...my aorta.

Although the most prevalent of all congenital heart defects, this one is sneaky and usually goes unnoticed until later in life. Kinda like those sweet geeky boys in junior high, just invisible until he's gotten so big that you can no longer ignore him. Successfully growing year after year in all aspects until one day you look up and say, "Damn, would you have a look at that! Look how he turned out." Just like that feeling of regret you have for not paying more attention to that handsome, young, hard working fella, the news of an aneurysm will break your heart...get it...lol...break your heart!

Last year in May, while doing a self breast exam I felt a knot. I called my Doctor and she told me to come in. During my visit she said she couldn't be sure what it was because of where it was located so she sent me for a CT scan. Two days later, she called and told me that there was no mass!! I was so RELIEVED! She then told me she had bad news....the CT scan revealed a large aneurysm on my aorta....f
Fast forward to now, not even a year later and it has grown to a life-threatening size and needs surgical intervention.

So, why do we need your help?? Well, I currently have a kickass job that I love. I work with over 100 healthcare facilities in eleven counties designing and updating emergency operations plans. These plans help protect vulnerable populations and people who cannot care for themselves by mitigating all types of hazards. The positive aspects of this job are too numerous to list but I will give you the top three.

The first  is that I never go to bed wondering if I made a difference. I wholeheartedly feel like what I do saves people's lives. Secondly, I have the privilege of working alongside the most amazing people: my fellow planners, first responders, healthcare workers, administrators, emergency managers, and volunteers (the unsung heroes of life). Third, I get to visit with the people that these plans protect. Many times when I get to a facility, the administrator or the facility director is still caught in a meeting or another issue may have arisen. So I have time to peruse the hall and make a new friend. I cannot tell you how many stories I have heard from these amazing people with old bodies but still very vibrant, beautiful minds. My time with them is invaluable and it reminds me how important each and every person on this planet is.

Now here's the sad part, the negative side. Well, I'm a contract employee. I have zero benefits. No holiday pay, no personal leave, no sick leave, and no compensation for time lost due to injury or illness. So here I am, facing the most terrifying experience of my life while still trying to figure out how to not let my credit tank and watch everything we've worked for just disappear. I'm trying to get approval to work from home for the month I am restricted from driving but it has not yet been approved and I'm not sure if it will be.  I will be out of work for 4 to 8 weeks. If it gets to the 8 week mark, that's almost $7,000 we will be doing without.

My sweet husband continues to work and he is doing all he can however, when you have four children and live in a two income situation, going down to one just doesn't cut the mustard. I tried to refinance our home and was promptly denied because I have surgery coming up and our income will be impacted. **Seems legit** I cannot get any other loans because I used up my loan-getting skills to fix our busted @ss house these past few years after my homeowers insurance kept blaming all the repairs on "design flaws."

 So, here is my offer to you all......

If you can hook a sister up with a buck or two, or a hundred....during our time of need I will either repay you in full when Kristy 2.0 is back in good working condition or you can come to my house and we can dance in the kitchen til the cows come home while l cook you a kickass dinner!!

If you can, THANK YOU SO FREAKING MUCH!!! My family and I will be forever grateful. You will save me a lot of heartache! If you can't, I totally understand. We all have setbacks and circumstances and I don't EXPECT anything from anyone. I know how it feels to WANT to give and not have the means.

Please don't feel sorry for us, honestly.  Even if no one donates and we have to start over financially I know we will be okay. It might be rough, but it will be okay. The planner in me just had to give this a go. If it works, awesome. If not, well then it wasn't meant to be. I know in my broken little heart that no matter what happens, God has my back.

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ THIS!!!! If nothing else, please go hug someone you love and tell them how much they mean to you! ❤❤❤