Help Jays Heart Heal
As many of you may or may not know, my brother Jay suffered from a heart attack on Thursday February 27th after picking his daughter Amaya up from pre-school. He developed chest pain on his way to pick her up, and thankfully did not ignore the signs and went to the Emergency room, where little did he know would leave him in the position he is today, with needing open heart surgery.
We have a strong family history of heart disease on our fathers side. Our father, uncle, and grandfather all died of heart attacks at the age of 50. Jay has always had this in the back of his mind, and for that reason alone could not ignore the symptoms.
Jay has been in the hospital since the incident. He was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital for further work up and evaluation. He is scheduled for heart surgery ( CABG) on Wednesday March 11, 2020.
This is a big surgery with a long recovery. Doctors suggest 8-10 weeks for a full recovery, before returning back to your regular routine. This includes no lifting more than 10 pounds, and no driving for at least 8 weeks. That seems like a reasonable time frame with all things considered, except for if you drive for an Uber service for a living as Jay does. If Jay doesn’t work he doesn’t get paid, and unfortunately there is no earned time for medical leave of absence with his job.
A little back story, Jay had worked for Teen Challenge of New England, directly after he completed his drug rehab program with them 10 years ago. It was a great job for him coming straight out of rehab. Teen challenge saved his life! It is also where he met the love of his life Courtney. Skip ahead a few years, Jay and Courtney got married May of 2016 and welcomed their daughter Amaya Grace in January 2017. After taking a year off to care for Amaya, Courtney returned to work full time Monday through Friday to carry the insurance. Jay ended up leaving his career at Teen challenge to care for Amaya during the week while Courtney was at work. Jay would work on the weekends driving for Uber to have a second income coming in. This all seemed to be working out well, until tragedy struck this past July 2019 when courtney was involved in a motor vehicle accident and unfortunately passed away. Jays heart has never fully recovered, and I’m sure the stress of what he has been through these past 7 months has played a role and impacted the position he is in today with needing heart surgery.
Our family with the help of Courtney’s family will be his number one supporters through all of this! Not to mention the ongoing support from Jays closest friends. We would appreciate any and all thoughts and prayers for a safe and effective surgery so Amaya has a healthy daddy to be by her side forever!
All donations will go directly towards helping jay pay his daily and monthly expenses while he is not able to work over the next 2 months, because his job does not qualify him for paid time off for medical leave. Any and all donations are truly appreciated. Thank You!
