Jess & Stephanie

As many know, I had a “small” incident with my heart in the beginning of December. The ER doctor called the event an NSTEMI heart attack, but it has since been called an ischemic heart related incident (where my heart wasn’t getting enough oxygen while I was on stage performing).  

In 2017, I had an ablation for arrhythmias that weren’t manageable with medication.  That seemed to be working just fine until November 5 when I was on my way home from a gig and went back into bigeminy which sent me to the ER.  Two weeks later, I was back in the ER for high BP, more arrhythmias and a lot of anxiety.  Then Dec 2nd happened.  Since then, I've had an echo and a heart cath done to see if my arteries were blocked.  I'm happy to report I don't have any blocked arteries, but I am dealing electrical issue in her left ventricle which will require visits to Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston as my Doctor doesn’t perform this specific type of ablation.  In total, since Nov 5th, she’s made seven trips to the ER.  

As a result, I've been reluctant to perform until later in the year when I feel better and have a better handle on her health which leads me to the 2nd part of this appeal.

In October, Steph lost her workmen’s comp.  She has been planning early retirement from Springfield Public Schools after being injured - once for dislocating her shoulder while teaching (surgery no 1), once for being knocked unconscious by a student (surgery no 2) and once for having a basketball stand fall on her (undoing the work from both surgeries).  She has been out of work for four years, has submitted all of her paperwork for early retirement and has been given the green light by all of her doctors for early retirement.  However, MTRS (Massachusetts Teacher’s Retirement System) hasn’t finalized a date for her board meeting and we’ve lost all of Stephanie's income.  All of it.  

Losing half of Steph’s pay for over a year to losing all of it for the past four months, we are finding it difficult to pay our bills. It is not our first instinct to ask for help; however, we have exhausted all other options. 

Please join us on Friday, Mar 24 for a comedy show with three of their dearest & funniest friends.  You can count on laughs until your stomach hurts! Tickets are available at www.jessmillercomedy.com/events/jessandstephanie

We hope you can make it to the show! And, if you can’t, please consider making a donation on gofundme.