Enough about Princess Peach... This time, Mario needs our help!

For those of you unaware, Mario has been battling an ongoing fight against infection for a couple months. He was admitted into the hospital May 10th after experiencing abdominal pain, and had surgery to remove his gallbladder the following day. Everything went well, and he was sent home a couple days later for what was supposed to be a 2 week recovery period.

Cool, cool.

Unfortunately, he was back at the hospital about 10 days later because he'd developed sepsis. Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening response to infection. If not caught in time, it will lead to septic shock. In 2019, Mario's brother-in-law died from this. Just as an FYI, because it's always good to educate people, early warning signs include: change in mental status; fast, shallow breathing; sweating for no clear reason; feeling lightheaded; shivering.

Thankfully, Mario recognized the signs and went to the hospital, where he stayed for a week, and was treated with antibiotics. Finally, he and Michelle were taught how to run an IV so he could continue his recovery at home, with the occasional help from a home health nurse.

On July 2nd, he was taken back to the hospital by ambulance, suffering from chills, elevated heart rate and dizziness. They found bacteria in his blood again.

Today, July 6th, they found an abscess in his heart, which is the root of the infection.

This is going to require heart surgery.

All of this is complicated by the fact that Mario was born with moderate aortic stenosis and a bicuspid valve. Aortic stenosis means the valve that lets blood flow from the heart to the rest of the body is too narrow. Because of this, the heart has to work harder to push blood through the small opening, which can cause strain over time. A bicuspid valve means that the valve has only two flaps (or “cusps”) instead of the usual three. It can cause the valve to wear out faster or not open and close properly, which can lead to problems like the stenosis.

The surgery will remove the infection, and they will also be replacing the aortic valve that has stenosis.

During all of this, Mario and Michelle have missed work, and struggled to continue paying their bills and cover their portion of medical costs.

So, today, we are asking for your help! Anything is helpful, including shares and well wishes, but at this moment, practical help would be a weight off their shoulders.