Go Fund Me for my stepdad’s, Scott, heart transplant journey

Hi everyone, my name is Nuttakrit (Peace) and I’m Scott Chandler’s youngest stepchild. He needs a Heart Transplant and I want to do everything I can to help him and help my mother.

In Dec 2023 my stepdad started to have a breathing problem while skiing. He collapsed on the slopes.

He was diagnosed and had to get Open-Heart Surgery (a four-way Bypass).

BTW: Scott is a lifelong skier. He taught skiing for many years. It turns out this injury to his heart was caused indirectly by a skiing incident while he was teaching his late-wife and oldest stepchild skiing 15 years ago. In avoiding a collision with an out-of-control beginning skier he hurt his knee. During an Arthroscopic Surgery to repair this he got an infection that turned into Septic Shock that hospitalized him for 2 months. It damaged his liver. But Livers grow back. It also damaged his heart, and to some extent, his lungs, which cannot heal themselves.

We thought the problem was fixed with Bypass Surgery. But during the recovery he never really got better and still had the same problems.

So, we ended up going to a different Cardiac Doctors at University of Utah Hospital which did a deeper dive into Scott’s Heart condition. They diagnosed congestive heart failure; with his ejection fraction very low at only 13%. It has increased from there with medications but still remains too low. They say the only way he will survive more than this year is to get a Heart Transplant. After 2 years fighting this, he gets weaker every week now. Oh, because of the insurance limitations his care was transferred from the University of Utah Hospital to Mayo clinic in Phoenix, Arizona that is 600 miles away, which is, as you might expect, a problem. Great Hospital, but so very far away.

Another BTW: My mother has been in the USA for 4 years. She became a citizen a few months ago, yahoo. I have been here for 3 years. It was never Scott’s Plan to bring my mother from Thailand only to have him get sick and die. They hoped to spend many many years together. I was taught in an English school in Thailand; though my mother has limited understanding of English, so I help her. We are both learning very rapidly about the way things work in the USA. Also, unfortunately Scott has had to close his service business, which we are currently trying to sell (CMIT Solutions of Salt Lake City). And more unfortunately, since he was the business’s key asset, (the clients loved him), the value of the business is limited without him.

During repeated visits, evaluation processes, various testing for the heart transplant at Mayo clinic, and when the transplant becomes available, both my mom and I have need to and will again need to relocate near Mayo clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, about 600 miles from our home in Utah. We have already needed to take lots of time off from work during the visits needed to the Mayo Clinic. When or if a Transplant becomes available, we will need to take at least 12 weeks off from our work while relocating down to the Mayo Clinic area, (because of my mother’s limited understanding of English, she needs my help).

Another BTW: Both Scott and my mother met later in life. My mother was divorced in Thailand. Scott’s Late-wife, also an immigrant, from Taiwan, died of Cancer. A lot of Scott’s lifesavings went to support his late-wife’s cancer and to put her son, his older step-son, my step-brother, through 8 years of college with very limited debt. I think you can see what kind of person Scott is, Immigrant stepchildren, teacher, etc.

As such, Scott and my mom have trouble handling household, travel, and ever-increasing medical bills. Insurance covers a lot, but not all, of the medical. Nothing covers household, travel or loss of work. My mother has a great job benefit wise and they have been very understanding with her need to take time off. But it is a minimum wage job as you might expect with limited English skills. So, it is very hard for my mother. I try to help them as much as I can, but I’m only halfway through my business degree, so it is hard to land a high paying job.

Because of Scott’s illness, I have decided to put my college on pause and work full-time to support my parents as much as possible. Whether or not Scott survives, and I hope he does so I can ski with him one last time, I do not want my mother to lose her home.

Thank you so much for reading our story. I don't know how much this is going to help him but if you can help in any way, it is greatly appreciated. Whether it’s helping financially, or sharing this Go Fund Me out with other people (PLEASE), or just sending some good energy, anything helps.

Thank you from my heart.

Peace

Please contact me with any questions.