A Lending Hand For Lenny (And Getty Family)
For those of you who may not know, our Dad (Lenny Getty) had a TAVR procedure on May 18th to repair his aortic valve that was previously replaced by open heart surgery 14 years ago. After the procedure he developed a post op infection.
On June 9th, he suffered a stroke secondary to his infection. Basically, part of the bacteria/infection gathered on his new valve which is called a vegetation and part of the vegetation broke off and traveled to his brain. He experienced some word finding difficulties but for the most part was doing well.
On June 22nd, he unfortunately suffered another stroke, and this time there was some bleeding in his brain. He was transferred to the ICU for further monitoring and is now on a general medicine floor to get stronger and healthier in order to undergo a second open heart surgery to replace this valve and remove the vegetation.
In 2017, our Mom, (Cathleen Getty) passed away from cancer, leaving Natalie (24), Kyle (22) and Caroline (17) at home working with the doctors and caretakers to make sure he receives the best care possible. Since the passing of our mother, our father has been the sole provider for the family. But with complications from his surgery leaving him unable to work, Kyle has taken over running the business, however, is only continuously receiving his weekly pay as a laborer, which is not enough to support the family. Natalie has pushed back her work start date and taking her Pharmacy Boards in order to take on the role as our fathers healthcare Proxy which has become a full time job, and Caroline is focusing on her summer job and as a 17 year old doing as much as she possibly can. Because of this, there is not as much coming in to pay bills, whether it be home, auto expenses, groceries, or paying the mortgage. Because of the way we were raised, we never feel the need to reach out our hand and ask for help as we do not want to have those around us feel bad.
We have received numerous meals from individuals, and we greatly appreciate everything. The unfortunate thing is that we received so much that it filled our fridge as well as freezer and unfortunately some of the food goes to waste which we feel bad about. While we are very blessed to have so many caring people around us, us kids have come to realize that the place we need help is staying on top of bills, and expenses and creating a platform for those who wanted to reach out and help us but were not sure how.
We really appreciate everything everyone is doing and cannot thank each of you enough. We also have decided that once our father is fully recovered and in good health, whatever money is left over from this fund will be donated to charity as we do not want to feel as though we took advantage of everyone's generosity.