Help Me Save My Son's Heart

My name's Missy. I've created this GoFundMe for my son... who is my world.

Thank you for taking the time to hear our story. It means everything to me.

 

MY SON SURVIVED CANCER, BUT NOW…

My beautiful 26-year-old son Reuben, my only child, has congestive heart failure.

 

When he was four years old he battled Stage 4 Hodgkin's Lymphoma Lymphocyte Predominant, and he won! We were told the chemotherapy could cause problems down the line, but that didn’t happen. Things have been wonderful since.

 

Reuben played his sax in the high school marching band and excelled in multiple sports! In college he did all kinds of activities, studied hard, and hung out with friends. And it really makes me proud how he’s helped his community… food drives, feeding the homeless and mentoring high school students. I know I’m his mom, but he’s a really great kid.

 

 

Everything was going so well… until March 31st.

 

We were sure we’d dodged the bullet, and he no longer had to worry about possible side effects from the chemo.

 

We were wrong.

 

 

 

 

Picture: Reuben as a baby with Jennifer, Reuben's Godmother (left), and me- his Mom! (left)

 

 

THE DAY MY LIFE CHANGED

On Wednesday, March 30th, in the late afternoon, I noticed Reuben was lethargic, bloated and his breathing was a bit labored. By the time we went to our family doctor the next morning he was struggling to breathe. I thought maybe it was an allergic reaction or Covid. Heart problems were the last thing on my mind.

The doctor took a look at him and sent us straight to the hospital.

 

Once we got to the Emergency Department, I could tell it was serious. They rushed him through intake, triage, and straight to a room.

 

That’s when I found out one of my son’s four heart ventricles was only pumping at 20%. As we found this out, Reuben was already getting much worse. He was basically incapacitated.

 

The Doctor told me if we hadn’t come in when we did, Reuben would probably have died.

 

Reuben is my only child. I was terrified, destroyed. I felt my breath and my soul leaving my body.

 

LIKE MANY AMERICANS, OUR HEALTH INSURANCE DOESN’T COVER THE MASSIVE COSTS.

Reuben and I are like many families in this country. We work hard and have been getting by, but the reality is we were just one unexpected crisis away from financial disaster.

 

We didn’t see this coming. Nobody does.

 

Reuben has been working while also getting his degree. He’s been really healthy, so he chose health insurance with a $8700 deductible so he could put the money he earned at work towards his college education.

 

Things are not good now financially.

 

Reuben can’t even pay for his education because the doctor says he’s not allowed to work. I’m cooking only heart-healthy food for Reuben now, and healthy food is more expensive. I haven’t even gotten the huge medical bills yet from Reuben’s one-week stay in the hospital, and with new food expenses alone, I’m worrying about paying rent.

 

I wish I could cover his new prescribed diet on top of his education and his health insurance. It’s so hard for me not to be able to… but I just can’t.

 

EXPENSES

What scares me the most is that the Defibrillating Life Vest Reuben has to wear all day, every day, costs $3,000 a month. The vest is not covered by insurance, and we are in a bureaucratic nightmare trying to see if we can get support from the state. And there are so many other medical expenses… his monthly prescriptions alone are over $200… It all adds up.

 

WILL YOU HELP MY SON?

This is hard for me to ask. I spend a lot of time helping other people. That’s easy for me.

 

But asking for help? This is hard.

But Reuben is my son. I’ll do anything for him.

 

I hope you’ll consider helping my son cover the cost of the care he needs to survive this trial and donate to our campaign to save my son's heart.

 

No donation is too small, and if you’re unable to donate, if you could help spread the word about this campaign on social media, I would be forever grateful.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for your support.

 

With gratitude,

Missy (and Reuben!)

 

 

 

Me and my Reuben❤️