Help Tim and Heather

On July 29th, Heather and Tim, as well as their two oldest daughters flew from Tennessee to Cleveland, OH so Tim could have surgery the next morning at the Cleveland Clinic.  July 30th, after approximately 9 hours of surgery, the surgeon was able to replace Tim's valve, however they also had to do some “extensive reconstruction” to the opening of the heart to make it larger. They were also able to clean up some of his previous repairs that he had when he was a kid. In addition, they found 2 small holes (one between his ventricle and pulmonary artery, and the other between his right and left atrium) that was patched up as well, which made the surgery much more extensive than they expected. Additionally, Tim has had multiple complications since getting out of surgery. As soon as he got to the ICU, he had bleeding in his chest that made it necessary to put a 3rd chest tube in, but they were able to get the bleeding stopped before having to take him straight back to the operating room, thankfully. He has also had multiple episodes of afib (his heart is beating too fast and skipping beats), which has also slowed his recovery significantly. Heather and Tim were initially told he would be in the ICU for one day, and out of the hospital within approximately 5 days. Tomorrow, August 6th, will be a week since the surgery, and Tim remains in the ICU. There is no telling when he will be able to get out of the hospital, since he first has to be moved to a step down unit. 

Heather has remained at Tim's side, sleeping in the ICU waiting room a few kinutes here and there as she's able. She checked out of their hotel room when their oldest two daughter's flew home to TN, since she wasn't using it and the expense was adding up. The situation at the hospital isn't great for Heather. She's only allowed to sit by Tim for a certain amount of time and if it even looks like she may doze off, the nurses tell her she has to leave. Her access to food without using grubhub or ubereats is limited and not at all cheap. And unfortunately, right now, they have no idea when they'll be allowed to fly home.

Obviously, as the surgery was much more extensive than planned, Tim's recovery even when he gets home will potentially be significantly longer than originally planned for and he may be out of work for quite a bit longer than the 2- 3 months initially expected. They will also now have tonreturn to Cleveland in 3 months for a followup appointment with the surgeon, rather than Tim just being able to follow up with his local cardiologist. We are hoping to make his recovery a little easier financially, both while they are still in Cleveland, and when they're back home in Tennessee. 

Thank you for you help!