Joe Malinao Needs Our Help

Hello friends, strangers and everyone in between. Our friend Joe Malinao is facing some serious and scary health and financial hardships, and we're looking to our community to pitch in and help make the forseeable future a bit easier to navigate.

TL/DR: Joe has been diagnosed with heart failure. He is facing a long road to recovery which will be filled with a lot of financial potholes. Without insurance to cover any portion of these impending charges, this is clearly a daunting set of circumstances.

On Thursday, February 16, when trying to go to sleep, Joe found that he couldn't breathe at all while lying down. For several weeks prior he'd been feeling unwell and had been struggling to breathe clearly. Up to then Joe assumed it was something like walking pneumonia, but this felt really different and too scary to ignore. He decided to take himself to the ER that evening, where he would end up spending the next 4 days undergoing tests and treatments.

These tests included an MRI, sonograms, and a catheter to check for blockage, among other invasive things. They found that Joe's lungs were filled with fluid, and that his heart was only functioning at 30%. They eventually released him, with a list of 5 meds to take every day, and the promise of more testing and treatments on the horizon.

The expenses are stacking up, and the most promising of treatments comes with a hefty price tag. The length of an ER stay can range anywhere in the $10K and $37K; the treatment being recommended by his care team is of a new drug initially designed to help diabetics, which comes in at $800/mo; the specific MRI they're ordering can cost as much as $20K; the 5 precriptions he's taking are anticpated to be lifelong... and then there's the matter of rent, food, and the rest of life's necessities.

Joe works full-time, but no benefits are provided. He sold his car to try and finance some of these expenses. He applied for and was denied Medicare. He is talking with Neigbhorcare Health with the hopes of receiving assistance, though nothing is for certain at this point.

Anyone going through a health matter like this shouldn't have to expend what little energy they have left on piecing together the pennies needed to ensure they can be cared for. We are asking anyone who knows Joe - those who have hired him to photograph their wedding, who have shared coffee and conversations with him, who have ridden next to him on long bicycle or motorcycle excursions - to please chip in where you are able. This could come in the form of donating money to the fund, or it could look sharing this campaign across your own networks.

With that we'd like to say thank you - thanks for reading about our friend Joe, thanks for contributing what you can, and thanks for spreading the word to help this fund make the biggest possible impact on the life of someone who is loved by many.

**Updates around Joe's health, treatments and hopeful assistance will be provided as they surface.