Hello! This past week my family and I had an unexpected medical issue that has been difficult for us to digest. My boyfriend Blaze went into the emergency room Thursday (8/14) at 8 am for shoulder, chest pain, and fever. They admitted him and diagnosed him with Pericardial effusion; excess fluid in the sac surrounding the heart. The next day he had pain in his chest and aches and sharp pains in his heart. He was then diagnosed with pericardial tamponade, a life threatening condition where the fluid in and around his heart started compressing the heart, and preventing it from pumping blood effectively. He had a life saving surgery at 8 am Sunday morning and they removed 350 ml of fluid. For perspective, there is only supposed to be about 15 ml in the sac around the heart regularly. A drainage tube was inserted from his heart through his chest where well over a liter of fluid drained from the sac around his heart over the next couple days in ICU. The tube was removed yesterday evening (8/19) however Blaze is still in the hospital and being monitored during recovery.

This being said, this is an incredibly expensive turn of events and the recovery will be ongoing. Blaze is unable to lift anything over 10 pounds or work for the next few months. As many of you know, we have a very active toddler and I am a stay at home mom, with Blaze being our provider. We are so thankful for our village around us and for everyone who has reached out.