Help Us Get Miguel A New Heart
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My name is Alondra Diaz, I'm starting this fundraiser to help pay for treatment for my older brother who has developed heart failure and desperately needs a heart transplant. He is only 29 years old.
This all started around September of 2020. My brother started to feel sick; he got tested for COVID-19 and his results came back positive. He quarantined for the recommended two weeks, but his health only continued to deteriorate from there.
Around this time my brother was in and out of the hospital a lot, but because of the ongoing pandemic, the doctors were only giving him medication to treat his symptoms rather than trying to find out what was truly causing them. I will go as far as to say that his health concerns were not being taken seriously. Again, his health care providers wanted to send him out on his way dismissing his pleas for other tests to be run to figure out what was causing him pain. My brother refused to leave until he got the help he needed.
He was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and sent home with a defibrillator. At this point my brother lost his peace of mind. His symptoms became a lot more severe, he become light headed after short periods of activity. He developed a hacking cough and on some occasions he coughed up blood. It became hard for him to breathe - even in his sleep, and his heart pain got so bad that he would beat on his chest due to the intensity. We had to call the paramedics on more than one occasion, but when they arrived they only recommended that he maintain a seated position to decrease the workload of his heart.
Come January 2021, my brother was taken to the hospital again by my mom, and this time he was hospitalized. He has been hospitalized since. Initially, his doctors had him on IV medications. Their hope was that his heart would slowly become stronger over time and that the would be able to return to a mostly normal life with the help of a pacemaker. However, this was not the case. His heart health only continued to deteriorate.
Come March, we were able to purchase a health insurance for him that would cover heart transplants. The hospital he was at was informed of this, and arrangements were made to transfer him to a transplant hospital (St Luke's in the Medical Center). To his misfortune, his health insurance providers mistakenly allocated his payment to the wrong account delaying his transfer to St Luke's. We were told that the issue would be resolved "within the next 8 hours", meanwhile my brother was in a critical condition and medications had already been withdrawn.
We were able to get him transferred to the transplant hospital within the next 8 days. Here, his doctors informed us that he was in worse condition than we thought. His organs were starting to fail and he needed dialysis as a result of his heart not being able to pump at the rate it should. He has been at St. Luke's hospital since then and has had four surgical procedures performed. The first two procedures were placement of lateral heart pumps in the left and right sides of his heart. The third procedure was an LVAD placement because the lateral pumps were not strong enough. The fourth procedure was an exploratory surgery to try to find the source of his bleeding, as he had been bleeding out from an incision in his leg from a previous procedure.
I will continue to post updates on his condition and his journey. As of right now (April 13, 2021) Miguel is going through physical therapy to regain movement in the left side of his body. He lost the ability to move his left arm and leg a few weeks ago, after experiencing a stroke. He is not able to walk or talk, he is bed-ridden, he is on constant dialysis and he is hooked up to life-supporting machines 24/7.
If you have made it this far, please help us get Miguel a new heart by donating or sharing this story with your family, your friends, your coworkers, and your followers. We appreciate your support.
April 22, 2021
So much has happened in the past week.
Because of COVID, most hospitals have a no visitor policy. If visitors are allowed, it is usually limited to one designated person for the entirety of the time that a patient is hospitalized. In my brothers case, the designated person has been my mom. Sunday, April 18th my family and I were going to visit my brother at the hospital after he texted my mom saying "Emergency, there's nothing else they can do for me. I love ya'll". His doctors had broken the news to him that morning that they felt there was nothing else they could do to help him and asked us to consider withdrawing medical care. They had found that Miguel had blood clots throughout his chest and body after performing an ultrasound. Normally a solution to this problem would be to administer blood thinners, but Miguel suffered blood hemorrhaging, which complicated things. When we asked if we could visit my brother we were told, "The only way everyone can see him is if medical care is being withdrawn." The doctors told us they could give my brother medication to "make him comfortable and help him go." This was the second time his doctors tried to persuade us to stop treatment.
Fortunately, my mom didn't give consent to this. My brother expressed to her that he wanted to get a second opinion from another doctor, rightfully so. He had requested this before and his request was denied so we took this matter into our own hands and started searching for other doctors that would be interested in his case. We reached out to Methodist hospital and informed them of my brothers situation. Within the next day Methodist called St. Luke's and expressed that they were interested in Miguel's case. However, the transfer would come with risks. In order to transport Miguel from St. Luke's to Methodist, he would have to be slowly disconnected from the life supporting machines so his body would not go into a state of shock. There is no way to predict how his body will respond to this, it could potentially cause his health to decline even more.
Ironically, after receiving this news the doctors at St. Luke's informed us that they had come up with a plan for my brother's health. This plan calls for the removal of a machine that was placed in his leg that is helping his heart pump blood. The incision through which this machine is placed is the location where blood hemorrhaging occurred.
The doctors hope is that by removing this machine, Miguel will be able to regain more mobility. This would allow him to undergo more intensive physical therapy, and if his health continues to improve he may become a candidate for a heart transplant. Miguel is still unable to talk, despite having his ET tube removed, but he is able to communicate with us through writing. He is making small improvements every day and is determined to reach recovery. Thank you to all of you who continue to follow Migue's story, we are so grateful for your support.
This all started around September of 2020. My brother started to feel sick; he got tested for COVID-19 and his results came back positive. He quarantined for the recommended two weeks, but his health only continued to deteriorate from there.
Around this time my brother was in and out of the hospital a lot, but because of the ongoing pandemic, the doctors were only giving him medication to treat his symptoms rather than trying to find out what was truly causing them. I will go as far as to say that his health concerns were not being taken seriously. Again, his health care providers wanted to send him out on his way dismissing his pleas for other tests to be run to figure out what was causing him pain. My brother refused to leave until he got the help he needed.
He was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and sent home with a defibrillator. At this point my brother lost his peace of mind. His symptoms became a lot more severe, he become light headed after short periods of activity. He developed a hacking cough and on some occasions he coughed up blood. It became hard for him to breathe - even in his sleep, and his heart pain got so bad that he would beat on his chest due to the intensity. We had to call the paramedics on more than one occasion, but when they arrived they only recommended that he maintain a seated position to decrease the workload of his heart.
Come January 2021, my brother was taken to the hospital again by my mom, and this time he was hospitalized. He has been hospitalized since. Initially, his doctors had him on IV medications. Their hope was that his heart would slowly become stronger over time and that the would be able to return to a mostly normal life with the help of a pacemaker. However, this was not the case. His heart health only continued to deteriorate.
Come March, we were able to purchase a health insurance for him that would cover heart transplants. The hospital he was at was informed of this, and arrangements were made to transfer him to a transplant hospital (St Luke's in the Medical Center). To his misfortune, his health insurance providers mistakenly allocated his payment to the wrong account delaying his transfer to St Luke's. We were told that the issue would be resolved "within the next 8 hours", meanwhile my brother was in a critical condition and medications had already been withdrawn.
We were able to get him transferred to the transplant hospital within the next 8 days. Here, his doctors informed us that he was in worse condition than we thought. His organs were starting to fail and he needed dialysis as a result of his heart not being able to pump at the rate it should. He has been at St. Luke's hospital since then and has had four surgical procedures performed. The first two procedures were placement of lateral heart pumps in the left and right sides of his heart. The third procedure was an LVAD placement because the lateral pumps were not strong enough. The fourth procedure was an exploratory surgery to try to find the source of his bleeding, as he had been bleeding out from an incision in his leg from a previous procedure.
I will continue to post updates on his condition and his journey. As of right now (April 13, 2021) Miguel is going through physical therapy to regain movement in the left side of his body. He lost the ability to move his left arm and leg a few weeks ago, after experiencing a stroke. He is not able to walk or talk, he is bed-ridden, he is on constant dialysis and he is hooked up to life-supporting machines 24/7.
If you have made it this far, please help us get Miguel a new heart by donating or sharing this story with your family, your friends, your coworkers, and your followers. We appreciate your support.
April 22, 2021
So much has happened in the past week.
Because of COVID, most hospitals have a no visitor policy. If visitors are allowed, it is usually limited to one designated person for the entirety of the time that a patient is hospitalized. In my brothers case, the designated person has been my mom. Sunday, April 18th my family and I were going to visit my brother at the hospital after he texted my mom saying "Emergency, there's nothing else they can do for me. I love ya'll". His doctors had broken the news to him that morning that they felt there was nothing else they could do to help him and asked us to consider withdrawing medical care. They had found that Miguel had blood clots throughout his chest and body after performing an ultrasound. Normally a solution to this problem would be to administer blood thinners, but Miguel suffered blood hemorrhaging, which complicated things. When we asked if we could visit my brother we were told, "The only way everyone can see him is if medical care is being withdrawn." The doctors told us they could give my brother medication to "make him comfortable and help him go." This was the second time his doctors tried to persuade us to stop treatment.
Fortunately, my mom didn't give consent to this. My brother expressed to her that he wanted to get a second opinion from another doctor, rightfully so. He had requested this before and his request was denied so we took this matter into our own hands and started searching for other doctors that would be interested in his case. We reached out to Methodist hospital and informed them of my brothers situation. Within the next day Methodist called St. Luke's and expressed that they were interested in Miguel's case. However, the transfer would come with risks. In order to transport Miguel from St. Luke's to Methodist, he would have to be slowly disconnected from the life supporting machines so his body would not go into a state of shock. There is no way to predict how his body will respond to this, it could potentially cause his health to decline even more.
Ironically, after receiving this news the doctors at St. Luke's informed us that they had come up with a plan for my brother's health. This plan calls for the removal of a machine that was placed in his leg that is helping his heart pump blood. The incision through which this machine is placed is the location where blood hemorrhaging occurred.
The doctors hope is that by removing this machine, Miguel will be able to regain more mobility. This would allow him to undergo more intensive physical therapy, and if his health continues to improve he may become a candidate for a heart transplant. Miguel is still unable to talk, despite having his ET tube removed, but he is able to communicate with us through writing. He is making small improvements every day and is determined to reach recovery. Thank you to all of you who continue to follow Migue's story, we are so grateful for your support.
Organizer and beneficiary
Alondra Diaz
Organizer
Houston, TX
Elena Diaz
Beneficiary
