Some of you may know, a couple days before Thanksgiving, my stepmom Gloria Bustos was admitted to Morristown Medical Center in NJ for shortness of breath and chest pain. After testing, they ruled out a heart attack but determined she was in congestive heart failure. During that hospital stay, Gloria had many complications. She suffered a pulmonary embolism (a potentially fatal blood clot in the lungs), a stroke (which she has thankfully made a full recovery from), and a hematoma near her airway from her right heart catheterization. The team determined she not only has heart failure but also some type of clotting disorder. After weeks in the hospital, she was finally discharged home with a life vest, blood thinners, and multiple medications to treat her heart failure. Unfortunately, the cardiologist team has been unable to optimize her heart failure treatment because her blood pressure does not tolerate the medications.

Today, January 17, she went for a repeat echocardiogram and right heart catheterization and the news was not what our family had hoped for. She has been diagnosed with dilated non-ischemic cardiomyopathy that is in its late stages. At this point, her left ventricular ejection fraction is only 20-25%. The cardiologist team at Atlantic Health believes Gloria’s only hope for extending her life is a heart transplantation in New York City. In order to become a transplant candidate, she will have to undergo rigorous testing and more hospital admissions. Organs are a precious and finite resource, so it is hard to predict if and when Gloria will have open-heart surgery.

Because of Gloria’s heart failure, she is unable to work her regular job cleaning houses. They are struggling to make ends meet on one income. My dad is very proud and would never ask for help, so he has been taking loans from his 401k to pay rent and bills. Their health insurance is through my dad’s job, so he has no other option but to go back to work. It is a truly trying time for them, and I feel compelled to ask for help. Any money donated will be used to help pay for Gloria’s medical bills and lost wages for her hospital stays.

Thank you in advance to anyone who can help Gloria and my dad during these trying times.