John's new heart & road to recovery
Donation protected
A brief timeline: (Updated 11/3/2016)
My father, John Saadeh, has struggled with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) for over 12 years. Dad was rushed to Houston Methodist on September 21st, 2016, which is when we were informed that Dad’s condition had reached the “End stage (or stage D)” of Advanced Heart Failure. On September 27th, 2016, the Medical Board reviewed my father’s case and on October 3rd, 2016, Dad was placed on the highest priority wait list for a heart transplant. Our prayers were answered on October 7th, 2016, which is when we found out that Dad had a donor match! Dad had a successful surgery on October 8th, 2016. Our family is very fortunate to say that since his surgery Dad has recovered at an exceptional pace. We are forever indebted to Houston Methodist and to their team of surgeons and nurses who combined their dedication, compassion, and intelligence to help get Dad back on his feet.
Dad is doing better than ever! However, we still have a long road of recovery ahead of us! We kindly ask you to continue sharing our story and to please donate ANY amount possible to help us during Dad’s road to recovery. We are in extreme need of financial help through this time. My mother, Mary Saadeh, has taken a leave from work to be Dad’s caregiver, which has caused a severe financial crisis for our family. In a perfect world, all bills would go on hold until work can be resumed again, but obviously that’s not the case. By you making a donation, you are not only helping pay our bills but you are also allowing us to focus on what’s really important here, Dad’s road to recovery.
With extreme gratitude,
-The Saadeh Family
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Dad's story
My father, John Saadeh, was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) in 2004 following a sudden cardiac arrest while at work. Thankfully, Dad was saved by his dear friend, Mr. Kelly, which just so happened to be a Houston Fire Fighter. Mr. Kelly, immediately performed CPR on my dad and called 911. Following this incident, Dad was in a coma for 4 days (seemed like an eternity) and soon after we were informed that my Dad had CHF. We learned that Dad's heart had a left ventricular ejection fraction of ~11% (a normal person has a range of 50-75%; an ejection fraction is a measurement of how much blood is being pumped out of your heart each time it contracts). This resulted in him having both a pacemaker and a defibrillator implanted in his chest to help prevent a cardiac arrest. Shortly after dad's defibulator was implanted he landed right back in the hospital after it shocked him a total of 37 times due to a device malfunction. They replaced the defibulator and has been clear of any malfunction since. However, the shocks kept occurring. Sometimes Dad would go months without an episode and then there were times he'd be in the hospital several times a month or even a week.
For more than a decade, my dad has continued to fight for his life and family. Despite Dad keeping up with his medicine, doctors’ appointments, and diet, we continued to watch Dad progressively get more sick and fragile through time. Dad’s last episode has forever painted an image in our family’s head. On Sunday, September 18th, 2016 at ~10:00pm, we called 911 and rushed dad to SE Memorial after my mom noticed dad's heart defibulator was shocking him and that he was unresponsive. Dad was in the ER when his defibulator began to shock him another 6 more times, which was when he was rushed into ICU. While Dad was in ICU his defibulator went off once more, and that night our family prepared to say our goodbyes. However, Dad argued that he’s going to be fine and he continued to fight his battle against CHF. While in ICU Dad complained of not being able to breathe and he couldn’t rest because of it. However, when we informed the doctors and nurses of this they would just respond with, “well of course you can’t, you have a bad heart!” or “you are just having anxiety, let’s get you some medicine for that.” It was heartbreaking to see and aggravating to watch everyone brush off the fact that Dad literally couldn’t breathe!! Collectively, Dad spent 4 days in ICU at SE Memorial and was released after the doctors diagnosed and treated him for having low potassium levels.
Within an hour after Dad was released from SE Memorial’s ICU we rushed Dad to Houston Methodist’s ER (in the Medical Center) on September 21st, 2016, due to his continued shortness of breath. Shortly after arrival, Dad was rushed into ICU where the doctors performed an emergency balloon implantation to help his blood flow through his body. Almost instantly, I noticed a huge difference in the appearance of Dad’s skin and his breathing.
The doctors informed us that my Dad’s condition has progressed into Advanced Heart Failure and that he was in the “End stage or stage D of CHF. Dad’s doctor told us Dad’s heart is the size of a basketball (verbatim) and that he must get a heart transplant as soon as possible. The next several days were rough, the fear of unknowing when or if a donor match would come in on time is unspeakable. However, we overall remained very hopeful and positive about the entire experience, as we know Dad may have not made it through the night if we didn’t take him to Methodist that day.
On September 27th, 2016, the Medical Board reviewed my father’s case and on October 3rd, 2016, Dad was placed on the highest priority wait list for a heart transplant. On October 7th, 2016, God answered our prayers and provided Dad with a perfect match! Dad underwent surgery for his heart-transplant mid-afternoon on October 8th, 2016 and has recovered at an exceptional pace since. Dad was released from Houston Methodist on October 22nd, 2016. The doctors have found no sign of infection (THANK GOD)and are primarily concerned with his high blood pressure and blood sugar (which is normal for post-heart transplant patients) so all-in-all he is doing FANTASTIC. However, we still have a long road of recovery ahead of us! We kindly ask you to continue sharing our story and to please donate ANY amount possible (literally any amount, even if it’s just a few dollars!) to help us during Dad’s road to recovery. We are in extreme need of financial help through this time. My mother, Mary Saadeh, has taken a leave from work to be Dad’s caregiver, which has caused a severe financial crisis for our family. In a perfect world, all bills would go on hold until work can be resumed again, but obviously that’s not the case. By you making a donation, you are not only helping pay our bills but you are also allowing us to focus on what’s really important here, Dad’s road to recovery. All donations will be used to help cover medical expenses and loss of wages during this time. Thank you so much for taking the time to read Dad’s story and for your consideration. May God bless each and every one of you beautiful people!
-With extreme gratitude,
The Saadeh Family
My father, John Saadeh, has struggled with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) for over 12 years. Dad was rushed to Houston Methodist on September 21st, 2016, which is when we were informed that Dad’s condition had reached the “End stage (or stage D)” of Advanced Heart Failure. On September 27th, 2016, the Medical Board reviewed my father’s case and on October 3rd, 2016, Dad was placed on the highest priority wait list for a heart transplant. Our prayers were answered on October 7th, 2016, which is when we found out that Dad had a donor match! Dad had a successful surgery on October 8th, 2016. Our family is very fortunate to say that since his surgery Dad has recovered at an exceptional pace. We are forever indebted to Houston Methodist and to their team of surgeons and nurses who combined their dedication, compassion, and intelligence to help get Dad back on his feet.
Dad is doing better than ever! However, we still have a long road of recovery ahead of us! We kindly ask you to continue sharing our story and to please donate ANY amount possible to help us during Dad’s road to recovery. We are in extreme need of financial help through this time. My mother, Mary Saadeh, has taken a leave from work to be Dad’s caregiver, which has caused a severe financial crisis for our family. In a perfect world, all bills would go on hold until work can be resumed again, but obviously that’s not the case. By you making a donation, you are not only helping pay our bills but you are also allowing us to focus on what’s really important here, Dad’s road to recovery.
With extreme gratitude,
-The Saadeh Family
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Dad's story
My father, John Saadeh, was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) in 2004 following a sudden cardiac arrest while at work. Thankfully, Dad was saved by his dear friend, Mr. Kelly, which just so happened to be a Houston Fire Fighter. Mr. Kelly, immediately performed CPR on my dad and called 911. Following this incident, Dad was in a coma for 4 days (seemed like an eternity) and soon after we were informed that my Dad had CHF. We learned that Dad's heart had a left ventricular ejection fraction of ~11% (a normal person has a range of 50-75%; an ejection fraction is a measurement of how much blood is being pumped out of your heart each time it contracts). This resulted in him having both a pacemaker and a defibrillator implanted in his chest to help prevent a cardiac arrest. Shortly after dad's defibulator was implanted he landed right back in the hospital after it shocked him a total of 37 times due to a device malfunction. They replaced the defibulator and has been clear of any malfunction since. However, the shocks kept occurring. Sometimes Dad would go months without an episode and then there were times he'd be in the hospital several times a month or even a week.
For more than a decade, my dad has continued to fight for his life and family. Despite Dad keeping up with his medicine, doctors’ appointments, and diet, we continued to watch Dad progressively get more sick and fragile through time. Dad’s last episode has forever painted an image in our family’s head. On Sunday, September 18th, 2016 at ~10:00pm, we called 911 and rushed dad to SE Memorial after my mom noticed dad's heart defibulator was shocking him and that he was unresponsive. Dad was in the ER when his defibulator began to shock him another 6 more times, which was when he was rushed into ICU. While Dad was in ICU his defibulator went off once more, and that night our family prepared to say our goodbyes. However, Dad argued that he’s going to be fine and he continued to fight his battle against CHF. While in ICU Dad complained of not being able to breathe and he couldn’t rest because of it. However, when we informed the doctors and nurses of this they would just respond with, “well of course you can’t, you have a bad heart!” or “you are just having anxiety, let’s get you some medicine for that.” It was heartbreaking to see and aggravating to watch everyone brush off the fact that Dad literally couldn’t breathe!! Collectively, Dad spent 4 days in ICU at SE Memorial and was released after the doctors diagnosed and treated him for having low potassium levels.
Within an hour after Dad was released from SE Memorial’s ICU we rushed Dad to Houston Methodist’s ER (in the Medical Center) on September 21st, 2016, due to his continued shortness of breath. Shortly after arrival, Dad was rushed into ICU where the doctors performed an emergency balloon implantation to help his blood flow through his body. Almost instantly, I noticed a huge difference in the appearance of Dad’s skin and his breathing.
The doctors informed us that my Dad’s condition has progressed into Advanced Heart Failure and that he was in the “End stage or stage D of CHF. Dad’s doctor told us Dad’s heart is the size of a basketball (verbatim) and that he must get a heart transplant as soon as possible. The next several days were rough, the fear of unknowing when or if a donor match would come in on time is unspeakable. However, we overall remained very hopeful and positive about the entire experience, as we know Dad may have not made it through the night if we didn’t take him to Methodist that day.
On September 27th, 2016, the Medical Board reviewed my father’s case and on October 3rd, 2016, Dad was placed on the highest priority wait list for a heart transplant. On October 7th, 2016, God answered our prayers and provided Dad with a perfect match! Dad underwent surgery for his heart-transplant mid-afternoon on October 8th, 2016 and has recovered at an exceptional pace since. Dad was released from Houston Methodist on October 22nd, 2016. The doctors have found no sign of infection (THANK GOD)and are primarily concerned with his high blood pressure and blood sugar (which is normal for post-heart transplant patients) so all-in-all he is doing FANTASTIC. However, we still have a long road of recovery ahead of us! We kindly ask you to continue sharing our story and to please donate ANY amount possible (literally any amount, even if it’s just a few dollars!) to help us during Dad’s road to recovery. We are in extreme need of financial help through this time. My mother, Mary Saadeh, has taken a leave from work to be Dad’s caregiver, which has caused a severe financial crisis for our family. In a perfect world, all bills would go on hold until work can be resumed again, but obviously that’s not the case. By you making a donation, you are not only helping pay our bills but you are also allowing us to focus on what’s really important here, Dad’s road to recovery. All donations will be used to help cover medical expenses and loss of wages during this time. Thank you so much for taking the time to read Dad’s story and for your consideration. May God bless each and every one of you beautiful people!
-With extreme gratitude,
The Saadeh Family
Organizer
Crystal Marie Saadeh
Organizer
Pearland, TX