Hello Family and friends,

For as long as we can remember, our mother, Melinda has persevered through hardships and struggles, doing anything she can to provide for her family and giving the proper nurturing she is so passionately about to them. Displaying this even in her work, she constantly gives and gives to other people.  

Now, she is the one in need, being her children we feel it is in our hands and our turn in favor to provide for her in a time she needs the most.

For so long, she has suffered from vertigo and migraines leading to weeklong episodes of her being sick. Living a life limited to not having the ability to experience a life that any and every human being should be able to experience. Even in pain over the years, she still has always tried her best to take care of & to be there for her family.

Recently, her symptoms have progressively gotten worse causing high levels of worrisome towards her health. After multiple trips back and forth to the hospital, our mom stayed until we finally received solid answers, after many weeks and long nights those answers ultimately came to be a compressed right coronary artery coming from the opposite side as it should be, leading us to the solution of needing open-heart surgery.

She was admitted for EKG observations because something was noticeably not right with her heart and her breathing. Stress tests, CTs, heart catherizations and other testings were done in the search for evidence and data to diagnose.

The doctors explained that she was born with anomalous right coronary artery (ARCA), which explains where many of her symptoms her entire life may have been originating from. Fixing this issue & having this surgery offers a light into her life with the opportunity of giving her the lifestyle & health she truly deserves. 

Due to extensive hospital admissions and all the medical procedures that have taken place, our mom has been absent from a full time job and benefits, including medical coverage.  Her recovery process will be lengthy. She will need immediate post-operative support. Recovery is a 4-6 week timeline with rehabilitation, home health care, more cardiac testing, medications, and upcoming cardiologist visits.  The emotional and financial burden this has placed on us incomprehensible. We have to move forward  to her recovery and trying to come up with a solution to be able to provide this support for her. 

We are setting a goal of $75,000 just to help her post-operative care. We know her pre-op medical bills will well exceed this amount but without medical insurance to help cover these costs, that is why we are coming to the community and asking for help.

This has caused a lot of financial strain on the family and we would greatly appreciate any donations. We know money can be tight, especially during holiday seasons but we are asking for your help- any help.

Please, please help in any way that you can and continue to keep Melinda in your prayers. We are grateful for your support.

 
General information on an ARCA:

 An anomalous coronary artery (ACA) is a coronary artery that has an abnormality or malformation. The malformation is congenital (present at birth) and is most often related to the origin or location of the coronary artery. However, there may be other defective areas in the coronary artery. Likewise, it may affect the overall size and shape of the affected coronary artery or arteries. ACA may also occur along with other congenital heart defects.

 Although they are present at birth, ACAs are often not diagnosed until late adolescence or adulthood, because of the lack of symptoms or because symptoms may not be recognized as being caused by ACA. Teens or adults with unknown ACA may have an initial episode of chest pain, heart failure, or even sudden cardiac death before the condition is recognized.