Update: 11/25/25

Sorry for not updating yesterday; it was a very, very long day. Mom’s incisions are healing very well. Her heart looks good (considering all she has been through) as well as her vitals. She did begin walking with PT in the halls but is finding once she sits back down, her b/p is dropping pretty low. So they are keeping a close eye on that. They have found that she has had at least one stroke since her original surgery, causing a clot to form on her occipital lobe, which has affected her vision. She also is having some slight cognitive confusion.

Now for the next step. Mom did not have insurance, which now is causing problems as we are unable to get her into a skilled facility for her rehabilitation. When they do discharge her from the hospital, she will be coming straight home, and we will not only need to care for her while she gets stronger, but also be in charge of making sure she is getting 1-3 hours of therapy at home through us. This means our family taking shifts for 24/7 care until mom no longer needs it.

Mom has a handful of follow-up appointments once she does discharge, along with neurology, cardiology, vascular, and ophthalmology specialists for her stroke/clot. All of these will need to be paid for out of pocket.

Mom has a long recovery road ahead of her, and we need as many people in our village to help as possible.

Everyone that knows mom knows that she never wanted to bother anyone with her problems or financial concerns and has always been determined she would do everything on her own. But today (for now) that is not a reality. I will be setting up a GoFundMe for my mom and dad to try and help not only with all of the medical expenses past and future but to help cover financial needs while Dad has missed work and mom is now unable to.

Please do not feel obligated to donate; I know so many people truly just can’t right now. Please continue to keep mom and our family in your prayers.

We appreciate all the wishes, prayers, concern, and love for mom and our family. This Thanksgiving, I am extra thankful that our family still has my beautiful, strong, loving mom here to celebrate with us.

Early Tuesday, 11/18/25, morning, my mom had a massive heart attack at home. She was taken by EMS to Bellevue Hospital, where they did their very best to stabilize and keep her comfortable. After testing and scans, it was found this was not her first heart attack, and she also had a massive 6cm aneurysm in her aorta. To be 100% transparent, we were honestly afraid she would not make it from Bellevue. Because of the weather, they were not able to life flight her and had to wait over 2 hours to be able to squad her to Toledo Hospital. (No fault of their own; it was due completely to the weather.) Upon arrival at Toledo, she was immediately taken back for emergency heart repair surgery. We were told from the very beginning how dangerous and extremely delicate the procedure would need to be for mom to make it through. After many hours, we got the good news that the surgery went as well as it could have gone, but they also found a second aneurysm on the back of her heart that they could not operate on. Mom is currently sedated and intubated to allow recovery time. They plan to wake her slightly soon to do a neurological exam to rule out her having a stroke during the procedure. The plan is to remove her breathing tube at some point in the morning, but we aren’t sure yet what time that will be. As for the other aneurysm, the plan is in a few days to go back in and put a stent in where it is located. We are still in a VERY critical time for mom. Please, please keep her and our family in your prayers. She is going to have a long road to recovery, but we as her family will make sure she gets and has everything she needs to get back to herself. My mom is one of the strongest (hard-headed lol) women I’ve ever known. This will be very difficult on her, so please pray. Put her on your prayer chains, send positive vibes, whatever you believe, please send them our way. I will try to update as we get new information.