Donation protected
I was diagnosed with a heart murmur when I was 8. It didn't cause any issues until a few years ago when my mitral valve started leaking (some of the oxygenated blood that should have gone to my body was getting pumped back into the left atrium because the valve didn't close properly). Over the last 9 months, it's gotten progressively worse. Ten months ago I had no symptoms. Today I can barely make it up a flight of stairs because I get too short of breath. I can't walk & talk at the same time, and I am so exhausted I sleep about 12 hours a day.
My diagnosis is mitral valve prolapse with severe mitral regurgitation. At this point, roughly 50% of the oxygenated blood from my lungs is actually making it to my body. That's why I get so tired & my muscles get so exhausted. May be why I've been so forgetful and confused lately. My case is hereditary, I know that my great grandfather had it. It has gotten worse very quickly.
I am scheduled for surgery on 7Aug. The surgeon will cut some of the tissue out of my mitral valve & sew it back together, reinforcing it so the valve will be stronger. Hopefully. He may have to replace it, but we're hoping for repair. Last month they found a ruptured (aka broken) chordae tendoneae, the cord that keeps the valve in check, kind of like a parachute, so he'll repair or replace that, too. And I'll get a cryo-ablation to control the electrical signals in my heart that have gone haywire, hopefully that will resolve the a-fib and SVT.
I'm lucky/blessed I have health insurance. But I have about $4500 left to pay before I hit the annual max. And 3 weeks with no pay before short-term disability will pay out. And then it's only 65% pay, and the 35% it doesn't pay is a lot to a single income household. I am hoping I can pull together enough money to pay the hospital/surgeon/anesthesiologist/you get the point so I don't have to stress about it while I'm recovering. If he does indeed do the ablation as planned, it has to be done through my sternum, so open-heart surgery and 12 weeks recovery. I'll use most of the rest of my PTO on pre-surgery day, angiogram, etc. If I'm lucky I'll have 2 days left over to start those 3 weeks with no pay.
The surgery isn't optional. There is no time to save up a little more money. I need to have it done ASAP, which for me is 7Aug2018. I am trying to get the images from my echos, but the hospital is taking it's time. I'll post them when I get them because I think they are absolutely fascinating!
So who am I? Why should you help me?
I'm a mom/sister/aunt/niece/friend. I try very hard to never miss a chance to spend time with family & friends when the stars align.
I'm a parrothead, which means my mind would prefer to live in Margaritaville with Desdemona and Joe Merchant, with a boat drink in each hand.
Almost 9 years ago, I met the love of my life. Six years ago he passed away. I miss him every day, and I wish no one else would ever have to feel the pain.
I like to repurpose old things. Like making piano keys into a lamp. The piano into a bar or a desk. Drawers into a bookshelf. Anything like that.
I have a cat named Jack who thinks he is speed racer. Not a snuggler and afraid of everything/everyone, but unless it's time to eat, he leaves me alone so we get along rather well.
I will read almost anything, from Tom Clancy (yes, I consider his work its own genre) to historical non-fiction. I just finished a book called Pioneer Women, about the women who helped to settle the Kansas frontier. Next is either something about Scotland or the Great Influenza, not sure yet. Yes, I am a nerd.
Such a nerd that I can tell you about entirely too many ancestors, with pictures and census records and death certificates. That's how I know my great grandfather had mitral valve prolapse.
My degrees are in Computer-Based Information Systems and Entrepreneurship. I'm not using either one.
When I grow up, I want to move to Florida. Even with hurricanes, the weather is so much better there than the ridiculous weather tantrums we have in MO!
I'm just an almost-middle-aged chick who could be anyone you know. Nothing crazy special about me or my life, just a really independent person who is swallowing her pride and asking others to help me get through this. And, btw, anything left over will be donated to the American Heart Association.
Thank you!
~b
My diagnosis is mitral valve prolapse with severe mitral regurgitation. At this point, roughly 50% of the oxygenated blood from my lungs is actually making it to my body. That's why I get so tired & my muscles get so exhausted. May be why I've been so forgetful and confused lately. My case is hereditary, I know that my great grandfather had it. It has gotten worse very quickly.
I am scheduled for surgery on 7Aug. The surgeon will cut some of the tissue out of my mitral valve & sew it back together, reinforcing it so the valve will be stronger. Hopefully. He may have to replace it, but we're hoping for repair. Last month they found a ruptured (aka broken) chordae tendoneae, the cord that keeps the valve in check, kind of like a parachute, so he'll repair or replace that, too. And I'll get a cryo-ablation to control the electrical signals in my heart that have gone haywire, hopefully that will resolve the a-fib and SVT.
I'm lucky/blessed I have health insurance. But I have about $4500 left to pay before I hit the annual max. And 3 weeks with no pay before short-term disability will pay out. And then it's only 65% pay, and the 35% it doesn't pay is a lot to a single income household. I am hoping I can pull together enough money to pay the hospital/surgeon/anesthesiologist/you get the point so I don't have to stress about it while I'm recovering. If he does indeed do the ablation as planned, it has to be done through my sternum, so open-heart surgery and 12 weeks recovery. I'll use most of the rest of my PTO on pre-surgery day, angiogram, etc. If I'm lucky I'll have 2 days left over to start those 3 weeks with no pay.
The surgery isn't optional. There is no time to save up a little more money. I need to have it done ASAP, which for me is 7Aug2018. I am trying to get the images from my echos, but the hospital is taking it's time. I'll post them when I get them because I think they are absolutely fascinating!
So who am I? Why should you help me?
I'm a mom/sister/aunt/niece/friend. I try very hard to never miss a chance to spend time with family & friends when the stars align.
I'm a parrothead, which means my mind would prefer to live in Margaritaville with Desdemona and Joe Merchant, with a boat drink in each hand.
Almost 9 years ago, I met the love of my life. Six years ago he passed away. I miss him every day, and I wish no one else would ever have to feel the pain.
I like to repurpose old things. Like making piano keys into a lamp. The piano into a bar or a desk. Drawers into a bookshelf. Anything like that.
I have a cat named Jack who thinks he is speed racer. Not a snuggler and afraid of everything/everyone, but unless it's time to eat, he leaves me alone so we get along rather well.
I will read almost anything, from Tom Clancy (yes, I consider his work its own genre) to historical non-fiction. I just finished a book called Pioneer Women, about the women who helped to settle the Kansas frontier. Next is either something about Scotland or the Great Influenza, not sure yet. Yes, I am a nerd.
Such a nerd that I can tell you about entirely too many ancestors, with pictures and census records and death certificates. That's how I know my great grandfather had mitral valve prolapse.
My degrees are in Computer-Based Information Systems and Entrepreneurship. I'm not using either one.
When I grow up, I want to move to Florida. Even with hurricanes, the weather is so much better there than the ridiculous weather tantrums we have in MO!
I'm just an almost-middle-aged chick who could be anyone you know. Nothing crazy special about me or my life, just a really independent person who is swallowing her pride and asking others to help me get through this. And, btw, anything left over will be donated to the American Heart Association.
Thank you!
~b
Co-organizers (2)
Brenda Luper Gardner
Organizer
Kansas City, MO
Morgan Gardner
Co-organizer