Hello, my name is Ryan. I was born with a bicuspid aortic valve. This just means that my valve has 2 doors instead of 3. Over time, this leads to calcification of the aorta, stenosis of the aorta, and causes the heart muscle to grow. All these lead to the aorta not sealing correctly, which leads to regurgitation. This means that when my heart pumps blood, some of the blood leaks back through the aorta. All this to say, my valve is bad and I need surgery to replace my valve.

This will be a major heart surgery, and I will be unable to lift anything above 5 pounds for roughly 2-3 months. This means I will be out of work for 2-3 months. To add onto that, I am being laid off from my job at the end of the month, 3 days before my surgery, which means I may not be able to qualify for unemployment insurance.

This puts me in a really tough place. If it were any other time in my life, I could just find another job or even just work in food service for the time being. But I will be unable to. I am faced with becoming homeless due to my surgery, or falling deep into credit card debt. So, I am trying to raise enough money to pay my medical bills, keep me fed, and keep a roof over my head. If you could give anything you can spare, even 5 dollars will make a large difference in my life. And please share this around with anyone and everyone. Thank you, you don't know how much the help means to me!