Donate to Steve's Heart Transplant Journey

Steve and I started this fundraiser to help with the rising costs of his healthcare (medical tests, medicines, and multiple surgeries) as well as to help ease the burden of him being unable to work. We also need to financially prepare for the costs associated with receiving a heart transplant. Those costs include travel/tolls to and from MGH in Boston, lodging, food, and miscellaneous costs I will encounter while on LOA from my full-time job. Once we receive a call that they have a suitable heart for him, I will need to temporarily relocate to Boston so that I can be close to Steve and help with his care and comfort.

Several years ago, Steve was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure without a definite cause. He was hospitalized for about a week to stabilize the condition and reduce the amount of fluid his body was retaining.

After this brief setback, he was generally healthy with the assistance of meds to help his heart and diuretics to help reduce fluid retention. Steve was working full-time as a Journeyman plumber and became a licensed Master Plumber.

Unfortunately, his health eventually declined once more. In December 2023, he required implantation of an ICD. Fast forward to October 2024, his health declined further which led to becoming unable to work.

In late November, Steve's heart really began to struggle, his body was retaining an excessive amount of fluid. His heart rhythm became affected, causing his ICD to deliver a shock to regain normal rhythm. Steve was admitted to the hospital again in early December 2024, which led to 5 1/2 weeks as an inpatient (for the majority of which he was in the ICU). After countless tests and meetings with different specialties, it was decided that Steve would require implantation of an LVAD to regain some health and reduce the workload for his heart. Steve had an LVAD implanted on December 26th, 2024, and despite several setbacks, remained determined to keep fighting for a higher quality of life.

The team at MMC worked closely with Steve and I, along with the heart transplant team at MGH Boston. He underwent further testing and followed strict guidelines to continue improving.

As of late January 2025, he is officially on the heart transplant list waiting for a compatible heart to become available.

UPDATE July 3rd, 2025:

At the start of June, Steve and I traveled to Boston for a 3 month follow up and labs with Dr. Mastoris. He continues to monitor Steve's condition and any concerns/questions we may think of.

Mid June we had a zoom appointment with a bone health doctor who specializes in transplants. The post transplant medications have a big impact on bone health(specifically bone density). She went over a extensive list of questions, sent us lab slips for a bunch of blood tests as well as a bone density scan. The labs and scan will provide the Dr with a better idea of Steve's pretransplant bone health. If she determines he isn't in prime bone health he will receive osteoporosis medications to start immediately, then an iv infusion post transplant prior to discharge. If all is currently in good condition it will just require the iv infusion after transplant.

Steve has been faithfully attending cardiopulmonary rehabilitation at MMC Biddeford since shortly after his LVAD implantation. He was up to around 72 sessions which have been 2x/week(Tue/Thurs) and proudly holds the "record" for the longest continuous rehabilitation patient. However, last Wednesday we had a setback... while working in our yard Steve dislocated his right(artificial) hip. We spent 2 nights in MMC Portland which has gorgeous "suites" in the new Malone Family Tower specifically for cardiac patients. Since Steve relies on an LVAD, he goes to that unit regardless of what caused the admission.

NOTE- I want to keep our friends, family and donors apprised of any updates including more details about specific areas of need this fund will help us with. If anyone has a suggestion of a good blog site or other avenue for updates please message Megan on FB.

Every donation helps! If you can't personally afford to donate, Steve and I would greatly appreciate it if everyone could share this fundraiser and share it often.