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Our favorite Yurtmaker has a secret.
We just found out from our good-hearted friend Richard Lee that all is NOT so good with his heart. He has to get quadruple ( yes, quadruple) bypass heart surgery...like, now. The surgery is scheduled for January 13.
Rich is not only a Yurt Maker Extraordinaire, he is family to our Burning Man, Vallejo and Townhouse tribes. He’s always got a smile, he doesn’t complain, he’s an “I’ll handle it, no worries, everything is FINE” kind of guy. And everything IS great....except for the heart attacks.
What happened? He was on his normal morning routine with the dog, coming back from Panama Red with coffee and a scone, and on the uphill walk home started feeling chest pains. He sat down to catch his breath, tried to walk again- and then called his friend Morgan who picked him up and took him to Kaiser, where he spent a day and a half.
It’s not the first heart attack. He thinks the first occurred 10 years ago at Burning Man, but at the time he thought it was just a case of nausea and exhaustion. It wasn’t until a later trip to the hospital in Oakland for chest pain that doctors noticed scar tissue indicating a previous attack, and he put 2 and 2 together. So, here we are at #3, and this time, it means surgery.
That is tough news to receive, but the good news is Rich has a positive attitude. He says, “This heart attack is not gonna kick my ass. I’m gonna kick its ass.” He’s got a place to stay with his dear friend Crystal and her family during the long recovery, and insurance to pay for hospitalization. The support of friends near and far has been humbling.
And here’s where we can really help our brother out. We are hoping to create a financial safety net to help him through the next few months. The surgery involves cracking open his whole dang rib cage and that’s no small recovery...it could easily be 3 months. $5,000 will just cover basic expenses like rent, utilities, and business overhead, allowing Richard to do the big work of healing without stressing. Right now he is staying busy cranking out work, banking some funds, feeling grateful for understanding clients, and looking forward to “getting the damn thing over with.”
Thanks for taking the time to read this and consider helping out. Every bit helps and is greatly appreciated.
Erin Bakke
We just found out from our good-hearted friend Richard Lee that all is NOT so good with his heart. He has to get quadruple ( yes, quadruple) bypass heart surgery...like, now. The surgery is scheduled for January 13.
Rich is not only a Yurt Maker Extraordinaire, he is family to our Burning Man, Vallejo and Townhouse tribes. He’s always got a smile, he doesn’t complain, he’s an “I’ll handle it, no worries, everything is FINE” kind of guy. And everything IS great....except for the heart attacks.
What happened? He was on his normal morning routine with the dog, coming back from Panama Red with coffee and a scone, and on the uphill walk home started feeling chest pains. He sat down to catch his breath, tried to walk again- and then called his friend Morgan who picked him up and took him to Kaiser, where he spent a day and a half.
It’s not the first heart attack. He thinks the first occurred 10 years ago at Burning Man, but at the time he thought it was just a case of nausea and exhaustion. It wasn’t until a later trip to the hospital in Oakland for chest pain that doctors noticed scar tissue indicating a previous attack, and he put 2 and 2 together. So, here we are at #3, and this time, it means surgery.
That is tough news to receive, but the good news is Rich has a positive attitude. He says, “This heart attack is not gonna kick my ass. I’m gonna kick its ass.” He’s got a place to stay with his dear friend Crystal and her family during the long recovery, and insurance to pay for hospitalization. The support of friends near and far has been humbling.
And here’s where we can really help our brother out. We are hoping to create a financial safety net to help him through the next few months. The surgery involves cracking open his whole dang rib cage and that’s no small recovery...it could easily be 3 months. $5,000 will just cover basic expenses like rent, utilities, and business overhead, allowing Richard to do the big work of healing without stressing. Right now he is staying busy cranking out work, banking some funds, feeling grateful for understanding clients, and looking forward to “getting the damn thing over with.”
Thanks for taking the time to read this and consider helping out. Every bit helps and is greatly appreciated.
Erin Bakke