Help Erica with her open heart surgery

We have contributed to many of these, but never in a million years thought we would be organizing a Go Fund Me….. especially not for one of our children.

Our daughter, Erica Peterson, was having some symptoms that she thought resulted from having covid earlier this year. A close extended family member, who was her age, unexpectedly passed away from a cardiac event in March and Erica could not stop thinking about him. She started wondering if she should get checked “just to make sure” her symptoms were not anything to worry about and that she was ok. Because she has had a heart murmur for a long time and had an echo done in her late 20’s which was fine then, the cardiologist at Froedtert ordered a follow-up echo. The results of the echo showed that she has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). It is a genetic disease of the heart that is passed down from generations. She was born with it and it manifests in your 30’s. It is an abnormal thickening of the septum between the two lower chambers of the heart which has caused an obstruction in her left ventricle. It can cause dizziness, light headedness, passing out or sudden cardiac events. She cannot do any aerobic exercise, shoveling or running and is restricted to very low activity. She can walk for exercise and can climb stairs (if taken very slowly). She has to monitor her BP daily and watch her heart rate as it cannot go over a certain number.

The next set of tests were an extensive stress test followed by a 30 day halter monitor. After that she had to have an angiogram to make sure her veins, ventricles, etc. were all healthy.

Based on the results of these tests, the only “fix” is to have open heart surgery. Her surgery is scheduled for November 21, 2022. She will be in ICU for 24-48 hours following surgery and then 2-4 days in a regular room. Recovery is 6-10 weeks and she will not be able to drive until her chest is completely healed. She can ride in the car to doctor appointments, but only in the back seat where there are no air bags. She will have to be on medication the rest of her life to keep the disease at the stage it currently is at and to hopefully not have it progress. She will also have to have yearly tests to monitor her heart.

We are all very scared, but have faith in God and know that she will pull through this. We are also extremely thankful for her guardian angel because she would not have gotten checked if it was not for him. Her doctor said that it could have been catastrophic if she had gotten pregnant without having this condition fixed.

As parents it is tough to watch your child go through something like this and feel totally helpless. You cannot take it away; there is nothing you can do to make it better. Erica is very proud and we knew that she would push back on a Go Fund Me so we waited until we had her trapped in the car on a weekend trip. We told her we cannot take this away; we cannot make it better BUT we can help with the financial stress they are under. Not only are they extremely worried, but they are also worried about the financial strain this surgery will be on them.

The payment plans she currently has with her doctors already are crazy. Her out of pocket has not been met and is $7,000. She will be off work 6-10 weeks and will only receive a small portion of her salary (out of which her insurance premiums will be deducted). Erik is working, but when he takes off to be with her, it will be without pay. She knew she would not win the argument and agreed to let us set this up.

If you are at all able to help them, please contribute. Every little bit will help and they would be extremely grateful. Helping to ease the financial stress will help in so many ways.

Thank you in advance and hugs & love to all of you. Carol & Dan