Hi, its Henry

I was born with a congenital heart defect that has caused varying amount of issues throughout my life. When I was young I had to get it regularly checked up every 6 months to a year to monitor it and see if it was getting worse/getting better. That was a normal occurrence until around 13 years old when I was told by the dr that my aortic stenosis was getting better, returning to the normal function of a heart and we would need to monitor it far less. Throughout my teens it didn't seem as though there was any reason to continue to worry about it so it went to the back of my mind. Though it is difficult to pinpoint when my heart health started going downhill over the past decade it was around 2023 when I had to be admitted to the er with severe chest pains and get numerous scans and x-rays, only to find that my aortic stenosis had swung so far towards fixing itself that it was now the opposite problem and the valve was no longer closing entirely. Over the past few years with talking with my care team we monitored the situation to make sure it wasn't getting any worse and if it did that surgery would be necessary. Over the past year my symptoms have gotten worse and a new spate of tests were ran to find that surgery needs to happen immediately. Unfortunately this is not something that can be put off and by the time you are reading this I will be recovering at home after after having a valve replacement surgery. Hopefully we will have some pleasant pictures on this page somewhere.

Ruby and I got married last October and didn't foresee this situation unfolding this quickly which left us with little time to plan. It has been stressful to attempt to figure out how to cover the costs of everything with everything that is going on. Thankfully we have friends and family who can help when they are available, but we still have bills that we need assistance with.

I initially wanted to get this written up and posted while I was in the hospital a day or 2 after the surgery, but no amount of research prepared me for how brutal the recovery was after heart surgery. I have now been home for a few days and Ruby and I are starting to better understand the limitations that I have with diet and rest, along with the rigorous testing to make sure that everything continues to progress well.

The time frame is not ideal, recovery was 6 days in the hospital leading into an 12+ week recovery period at home where I will have very limited ability to do much of anything without assistance. Assuming all goes well I should be up and able to do mostly everything that I would normally in about 2 and a half months, though I will still have more restrictions going into 6 months from now. Ruby and I are moving shortly after the 12 week recovery window and I will hopefully be able to manage that but we are still going to need to make many arrangements in order to help both ruby and I live well while Im recovering from this.

This all happened relatively quickly and left Ruby and I with few options, and as much as I would not like to beg for money through a GoFundMe, this is the situation that we are in. I fully understand with the way the world is at the moment if you are unable to help financially, I just appreciate you taking the time to read and send us well wishes.

Thank you for reading and if you do decide to donate to this know that you, regardless of what amount you put towards this, are making a very hard time for us easier and all of your support is greatly appreciated.

Ruby and I are facing financial hurdles related to medical costs and 12+ weeks of health restrictions due to open heart surgery.

- At least 12 weeks for physical therapy

- Wont be able to drive for at least the first month so assistance with getting ruby and myself to and from appointments when needed if unable to find family assistance

- Basic things like being unable to raise my arms above my head or lift more than 5 pounds for a while leads to even basic tasks being very tedious or impossible to preform by myself

- Much more complex requirements for dialing in the proper dosage of blood thinners (which I will need to be on for the rest of my life) than I thought, which means more appointments