Hi, my name is Mitchell Kirkpatrick and I am creating this GoFundMe for my amazing mom, Marianne. In early August, she came down with a viral infection, but things quickly became far more serious. This infection ultimately led to congestive heart failure, bacterial pneumonia, angioedema (a life-threatening allergic reaction), and finally Afib with RVR. When she was finally admitted into the hospital, she spent 28 days at St. Joe's In Pontiac, MI. After weeks of tests and complications, doctors confirmed that a rare congenital heart defect she was born with and had no control over, Bicuspid Aortic Valve Disease (BAVD), had progressed into severe aortic stenosis and she would need open-heart surgery immediately to replace the valve. Sadly, despite repeatedly raising concerns with doctors over the years, she was often dismissed and told her symptoms were simply due to her weight or other factors. It wasn’t until she was seen at St. Joe's that a doctor finally listened and realized something was seriously wrong. She underwent open-heart surgery on September 5th, where it seemed like everything went well. She did go in and out of Afib during her stay in the ICU but was ultimately transferred to the cardiac floor where things quickly went south. Her heart kept pausing unexpectedly, with the longest pause lasting 12 seconds. These pauses were dangerous and life-threatening, so she was quickly moved back to ICU. She underwent a procedure called cardioversion and eventually had to have a dual-chamber pacemaker installed due to persistent electrical issues with her heart. She stayed in the ICU until September 15th, where she was moved to a cardiac rehab facility and is expected to be there for some time. While we are deeply thankful that the surgeries were ultimately successful, my mom's recovery is far from over. She will need many months of healing and will be unable to work during this time. My mom is a single parent to four of us aged 16-23. She has always put us first and is the heart of our family. She has always done her best to provide even when she was sick and undiagnosed. She has always been strong, selfless, and loving! Now she is unable to work and still needs time to heal. She needs our support more than ever. Throughout this entire journey, all of us have been by her side. We stayed with her at the hospital, helped care for her, and continue to support her every way we can. But the financial strain is more than we can manage alone. We have reached our limits emotionally and financially. Her monthly bills total around $3500 - $4000, and while we are still doing what we can, the gap is too big for us to cover alone for the next year. We have set a goal of $15,000 to help cover mortgage and lot rent, utilities, groceries and basic essentials, medical-related expenses, transportation, and ongoing support for healing during her rehabilitation and recovery. Our goal is set at $15,000 to help cover several months of critical expenses while our mom recovers. We have kept the goal modest compared to her full recovery costs, but every donation, no matter the size, helps ease the stress on our family during this time. Because my mom is on Medicaid, I will be managing all funds directly to make sure her healthcare coverage is not affected. The money raised will go strictly toward helping her and our family get through this incredibly difficult time. Every donation, no matter how small, makes a real difference. If you are unable to donate, please consider sharing this campaign to help us reach more people. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your kindness, love, and prayers during this incredibly difficult time.

-Mitchell