Joshua Clay's Road to recovery and his mother's care

Hello, my name is Joshua Clay. I am raising money for medical bills and a possible life-saving surgery. I want to let you know a little about me and my family. My father passed away from his Pancreatic Cancer on February 12th, 2020. He was a retired military veteran, a Bronze Star winner, and a historian. I stepped up to take care of my 70 plus year-old retired military disabled veteran mother. She has both knee and a hip replacement surgery. She struggles to walk and usually uses a wheelchair. For the past 4 years we have been taking care of each other.

I have been working at the Waffle House full time for 17 years. On May 29th, I collapsed at work while counting down the drawer. I hit my head hard twice and was out. I stopped breathing... Customers and fellow employees banded together and got me help. CPR was administered. The ambulance arrived and I was electric shocked to get my heart started. I had a heart attack and stroke. I personally never had medical problems like this before. Before this I never missed a day for falling sick, even during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The doctors put me on a ventilator. Once I was stable, they transferred me to another hospital so I could have an ICU room. Waking up and dealing with the pain was hard. I had to be told over and over what happened. Since I banged up my head pretty hard.

The slow road to recovery has had its ups and downs. After getting out of the hospital in early June, I have been going to my appointments as well as taking care of my mom. It has been stressful to cover the medical bills but now they are getting bigger, and my insurance is not covering it. It is the first time I have used my insurance and it turns out to be more for seeing the doctor's office than the ER, so none of the lab work, ICU, x-rays, medication, ambulance, MRI, ultrasound, etc. are covered. I already received bills for $4,000. I was told the heart surgery I need is roughly $250,000! That price is if nothing goes wrong. It is scary how it keeps piling on.

In a recent visit, a heart & vascular MD told me that as a 36-year-old, I have a heart of a 60-year-old. From how my heart has 100 percent blockage in the lower left ventricular and 70 percent in the right. It shocked my doctor that my heart made workarounds to allow blood flow to say that I am a phoenix. Under normal circumstances, I should have died, but the good lord spared my life. I hope others will help me in my time of need to continue to care for my mom and my medical needs. I feel overwhelmed. Please help.