Help Sandy Get to UCSD for Critical Heart Care

This GoFundMe account is on behalf of our Mom Sandy Bocanegra (formerly...Walker & Silva)

Mom’s heart has been through A LOT.

As an 8 year old child, a simple case of an untreated strep throat lead to a 108 degree case of rheumatic fever disabling her from being able to walk for a few months, while quietly damaging her heart valves over the next 5 decades—a problem that could have been prevented with something as simple as a daily dose of penicillin. But in the 1960s, those medical advances weren’t understood or available, and her heart has been carrying that burden ever since.

Fast forward 50 years: in 2011, her heart finally demanded attention. She underwent her first open-heart surgery to replace her mitral valve at Stanford University—bloodless, per her Jehovah’s Witness faith. The valves held strong for almost 10 years. In 2021 however, they needed replacing again. This time Johns Hopkins in Baltimore stepped in to replace her aortic and mitral valves, also bloodless, but this time with new mechanical valves. Recovery was long and challenging, stretching four months in Maryland.

Now, in 2025, her heart is signaling distress again. Mechanical valve leaks aren’t due to surgical error; her heart tissue simply can’t bend like it used to. And over the past month, tests revealed dangerously high pressures in her pulmonary valve—a condition called pulmonary hypertension. She’s already had two hospital stays on Maui and Oahu for the last 4 weeks, and now UCSD in San Diego, world-renowned for pulmonary care, wants to see her immediately.

Getting there isn’t simple. Care and treatment have already been green-lit by insurance, but transport by An AirAmbulance hasn't been approved yet and is quoted at $100,000. Her husband and she live on a fixed income, and this cost is overwhelming at a time when all they need is peace and calm for healing.

We, her children, want to be there for her in every way possible. Your support will help cover the costs of this critical move and treatment cost while in San Diego.

Whether you know Moms sweet smile or comforting laugh personally—or just know us, her children, and feel moved to help—we thank you in advance from the bottom of our hearts.

Let’s help her get the care she needs and deserves.

Mahalo Nui!