Supporting Melinda after the Loss of Joe Plante

UPDATE: This morning 10/14/2024 Joe Plante passed away of heart failure, after being admitted yesterday to Loma Linda University ICU.

I am updating this fundraiser to help my 1st husband's (Michael Bay) work wife (Melinda Plante) from Laidlaw with this go fund me to help her, at her request. I know how hard it is what she is going thru as I went a similar situation with my first husband, preceding his death in 2020 from COVID. I have been in contact with Melinda today to just talk to and support as she goes thru this very hard situation. Many have asked her what they can do. You can make a donation to this fund, or arrange a meal for her.

Below is written in her own words........

On July 15, 2024 my son and I took my husband Joseph to the ER at Inland Valley Hospital in Murrieta. He had not been feeling well. He had been to urgent care the day before and was treated for seasonal allergies. That day he has progressively felt worse, could not get relief with the medicine that the urgent care doctor had prescribed. Joe is a big strong man, and believed he was just not feeling well. I went in to check on him in the evening, and noticed that his fingers, toes and lips were blue. We loaded him in the car and took him to the ER. The staff at the Inland Valley, upon seeing Joe's condition, immediately began to work on him. He was in V-tac. His heart rythem was off. The had to shock him to get his heart pumping correctly again. They worked for over an hour trying get him stable enough to move to ICU. He spent 11 days in the ICU at Inland Valley. The cardiologist at Inland Valley informed us that Joe will likely need a heart transplant. He was on continuous dialysis to take out a near fatal level of potassium, to pull fluid off of his body that was making his very sick heart to pump better while we waited to have Joe transferred to a hospital that could better provide for his extremely weak heart. Throughout our time at Inland Valley, he received amazing care from the Doctors and nursing staff. They worked so hard to facilitate the process of his transfer and were searching for any facility that could take him. We prayed hard for Loma Linda University Hospital to take him, because they were close enough to make the many trips from home to be with Joe. On Tuesday July 23, Joe coded, his heart stopped and he was defibrillated and brought back. Loma Linda then pulled back their acceptance as they felt he was too sick for them to take on. We were back at square one. The nursing staff began calling all of the hospitals in Southern California to see who could help my husband. We prayed hard for us to find a hospital that would have the skill to make Joe better. On July 26, 2024, I received a call that he had been accepted at Cedars Sania Hospital in Los Angeles. The helicopter was already dispatched to pick him up. We drove the 30 minutes to Inland Valley just in time to give him a kiss on the forhead, and watch him be loaded and then begin his flight to LA. Once my sons and I arrived to Cedars, we found that the cardiologist team was already prepping him for a procedure to aid in his heart function. He received the procedure, and his heart is able to work a little easier now as we wait to hear about a transplant. They put in a device called an empella. It basically sucks the blood out of his heart and pushes it throughout his body.

On July 29, 2024 they did a procedure to replace the aortic valve in his heart to replace the broken valve in his heart. Valve replacement was a success! Now we wait for him to recover a bit and find out the next steps. He is back on the dialysis machine to pull more fluids off and give his kidneys a chance to recover.

As of today July 30, 2024 he has had the sedation and intubation removed. We are waiting to see what the next steps will be, knowing he is going to have a long recovery and be unable to work.

I am not able to be with Joe every day as I still have to work to pay the bills. This is the hardest thing I have ever been through. I feel very overwhelmed sometimes. I am unable to get Family Leave from my employer because I have not been with the company for a full year yet. I have been traveling to LA after I get off of work. This is a 3 to 4 hour one way trip. I must keep my job, but I have to be here for my husband as well. Because he is not able to work our finances have been cut by 2/3. Every trip costs at least $75 with fuel, parking, and other expenses.

God has provided so many answered prayers, and He continues to be my safe place. We are leaning on Him to guide us and comfort us through this. The love and support from all of you has helped me keep going. It makes me feel less alone. Thank you all.