Susan's Second Chance
If you've ever met her, you know just how big of a heart our mom has. Whether it's showing her love by cooking for hundreds of kids at camp, volunteering at church activities, spoiling her 19 grand children, or driving hours to spend a little time with a son or daughter, she has always loved giving to others. But on February 21st, we learned that her big, loving heart also heart suffered major damage. Now is our chance to give back.
Our mom suffered what is called a STEMI heart attack (also known as the "Widowmaker") which a complete blockage within the heart and the worst kind of heart attack a person can have. The survival rate outside of the hospital is 12%. It was only by a miracle that she was able to recognize what was happening and make it to the hospital alive.
Once doctors understood the severity of the situation, they emergency transferred her by ambulance to another hospital who had the resources she needed. There, they rushed to perform a life-saving procedure, placing two stents within her heart. Unfortunately, her heart had already sustained damage. She spent a several days in the ICU during her stay before being released home wearing life-saving defibrillator.
Support for Susan
As you can imagine, enduring all of this has changed every part of our mom's life. She is limited now on what she can do as she begins the process of healing her heart. She is required to attend cardiac rehab three times per week and will depend on a defibrillator and medications for the rest of her life.
While we try our best to help her by bringing her meals, taking her to her numerous doctor's appointments, picking-up supplies and spending time with her, we also know there is only so much we can do in the form of helping financially as medical bills continue to mount. We fear carrying this burden will create stress and get in the way of healing.
We want to express that this is not an ordinary situation. During the time when our mom suffered her heart attack, she was not covered by insurance. None of us saw this coming. She was not yet eligible for Medicare at the time of the heart attack. She is now covered but understand that the hit of this medical emergency (cost of treatment immediately during and directly after) has already taken its toll. The breakdown of some costs incurred (but are not limited to) include:
-Emergency Room Visit
-Ambulance Transportation
-Operation
-ICU Stay
-Telemetry Unit Stay
-Defibrillator Life Vest
-Cardiac Rehabilitation
-Heart Medications
-Echocardiograms
-EKGs
In the future, she will also require:
-Routine Cardiologist Exams
-Addl Echocardiograms and EKGs
-Potential Heart Surgery
How You Can Help
We know our mom would never ask for help so we are asking for her. Please help us ease the financial burden and help heal our mom's heart by donating anything you can. Every dollar helps but if you are not in the position to contribute financially, your prayers and well wishes are invited. We know she would be endlessly thankful for anything you can give.
All donations received will go directly to Susan to aid in the relief of medical bills and everyday cost of living while she is unable to return to work.
Our Unending Gratitude
It's going to be a long road to recovery and while I'm sure many of you have questions, please give Susan some time to rest and recover. We will do our best to update you as we can.
We are tremendously grateful to still have our mom with us as she is the glue that holds our family together. There are so many people rooting for her to get better. Thank you so much for reading and considering taking an opportunity to give back to someone so special to us.