Help Katherine Garland Get Life-Saving Heart Surgery

My name is Katherine Garland. I’m a 68-year-old disabled female. I have a huge issue with my heart. I’ve had heart problems since I was in my 20s. It’s a genetic from a birth defect where my kids and grandkids have to be checked as well throughout their life. My cardiologist told me the other day that he is sending me to Minnesota to the Mayo Clinic to have open-heart surgery because there is nowhere around my part of town in Oregon that can do this particular surgery. It’s a very rare defect and I need a specialist in this field I was told that’s it’s very dangerous pretty much will die so now I’m trying to say my goodbyes wondering how I’ll get cremated I have no family The cost is going to be an arm and a leg without donations and my deductions from the insurance company.

If I don’t get any help and if I can’t afford a flight to Minnesota, then I’m kind of screwed. I need it right now just like my cardiologist told me that he wouldn’t tell me I need surgery unless I really needed it. I know I do really need it because I can barely breathe. The pressure around my heart is like 100% worse than it ever has been to where I can’t breathe. Now I’m in ICU here at Mercy Hospital where I live. I have just had an echocardiogram, and the echocardiogram showed the blood on the left side of the muscle is just flooding in there. the flow to my aorta is running backwards. It’s zooming fast, on the scan and I asked the girl if that was normal, and she said no, it’s not. I’ve never seen my echocardiogram so bad. Also, I have pericardial effusion, which is fluid around the heart right now, and that’s what landed me in the hospital because the water around my heart put so much pressure on my heart that I can’t catch my breath. I have to try to concentrate on breathing. The doctor is sending me to this particular doctor because he’s known him a very long time, 30 years plus, and he is the best specialized heart surgeon that he knows of. They’re gonna have to go in there and cut the left muscle on both insides to make it where this is where when they slice the muscle the dr has to be precise. It only takes probably like a little sliver and it can kill me on the table so they have to know how much to slice as right now I don’t have room for the blood flow to go through because right now, as I’m speaking, there is barely any opening at all. If they’re sending me to Minnesota from Oregon, then it definitely is serious. I’m gonna have to fly out there and go I’ll be alone That means I’m gonna be going through this major surgery with them cutting my heart open because it is open-heart surgery without any one, no one to hug me, support me, or make me feel loved. As I’m crying now while I’m telling you the story, I also have to wake up with no one there, and that frightens me so much too. There’s a large chance I can die on the table because this is a serious open-heart surgery. I know I have to pay my deductible with my Medicare, and I hope it’s not gonna be too much. I hope they approve it. If they don’t approve the surgery, then I will die. That’s why I know I have to have the surgery. Ten years ago, they wanted me to have surgery, but I didn’t wanna do it because being an invasive surgery and being younger, I figured I’d let God take care of it. Anyway, it would give them ten more years of experience doing cardiac surgery. That’s why I’m taking his advice because I do wanna live. I wanna wait until my grandson has my great-grandchild. I’m stressing tremendously over all this cost, flying out there, and just everything that I have to deal with on top of the possibility of dying. So if you can, I beg for everyone to please help send me some donations from the GoFundMe part and as well if you guys can all share my post on your Facebook page. I’d really appreciate it because the more help I get, the easier it’s gonna be on my heart. It’s not gonna make me anxious and sick because my heart just flutters so I hope I don’t get rejected with no one that has a heart and they put yourself in my story and see how serious and anxious I get trying to calm down Once again, thank you, and I hope people will help. Thank you so very much.

UPDATE

i couldn’t go to Minnesota to the best dr as my insurance didn’t pay there so then they sent me to Providence, Oregon and since my original cardiologist told me that there’s no one in Oregon that he would even send me to because they’re not qualified for this particular surgery besides what I put above I just was told that they have to replace my micro valve or something like that because mine is leaking and they also have to fix that blood vessel to the aorta that’s going backwards and how she’s really only done a few but that was that this is the new hospital as the one in Oregon I refused as the dr hasn’t done one. So yes now my time for me to stay alive isn’t working because they’re taking too much time that’s what happened where I ended up in ICU on the note above there’s nothing else they can do if I have one Pain so they said it’s in God‘s hands. I don’t have a problem before surgery but now that I finally have the doctor that’s capable that I don’t really trust but my surgery has been set for March 18 and all the stress that I’ve been going through since I started to go fund me account has probably doubled because I’ve got all my own issues of trying to take care of the last things in life and you know getting with your kids and stuff like that because I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to afford it. I do know that when I go to this new hospital that’s up in Vancouver Washington and it is a 4 1/2 hour drive and I have to go up on the 17th for my preop and then they want to do the surgery the next day which I can’t go up and back two dimes in a row so the only thing I’d love to since I’m alone when the Transportation drops me off I’ve gotta try to find some kind of motel close because I won’t have a car to get to the motel in the hospital so I’m struggling because now I have to find a cheap motel close Taxi extra money that I’m totally broke. I am so behind right now, trying to take care of all the things I need to take care of so please please donate anything you can even if it’s a dollar thank you so much. I don’t want to feel that there’s not anyone out there that is got a heart that I don’t have that I wish I had my heart back. I had a good heart all my life and that’s what makes it hard for me now is because it’s sad to not get any recognition.