Laurie Parker Heart transplant fund❤️
Donation protected
The time has come for me to get my new heart. I was born with a bum ticker, but I’ve managed to stay stable enough for 40 years. Time for a new heart and another 40!
I am a mom, a wife, a step-mom and a huge animal rescuer. Even as I wait for a new heart I’m saving little lives.
We have been given less time than I had anticipated to raise funds as we are trying for a donor match early July. Insurance only covers surgery related expenses. It will not cover my lodging for 6-8 weeks post op while I have to stay near the hospital. Insurance will also not cover some of my anti-rejection medications that are extremely pricey. Most transplant recipients fundraiser for the rest of their life as medications can exceed $2000 a month out of pocket.
A little bit of background:
Pretty sure other than standard childhood illnesses I was a normal healthy kid. In my teens I had a strange flutter in my chest but my dr called it hormones. Strange things would happen in my teens and early 20’s. I would black out or get the sparkles that led up to fainting. Dr called it migraines and low blood pressure. Told me to eat more salt. No joke. I was 22 when I had my daughter. As far as I knew I had a normal pregnancy. My delivery was also normal, kind of. The only thing that went wrong so to speak was my sinus rhythm. It just wouldn’t return to a sinus rhythm. Focus on I’m 22 and this is my only pregnancy, so when I leave the hospital I have no idea what happened to my heart or why. I just brought home the love of my life and was swept up in the joy of being a mom and the blackouts started again. New Dr, same answer Low BP and migraines. Fast forward 2 years to Black Friday. Sitting on the living room floor with my Starbucks quad shot tuxedo sorting Christmas Ornaments my arm went numb and I had some really sharp chest pain. What did I do? I pretended nothing happened because I was embarrassed. Really. Would anyone believe what I just felt, or would I be exaggerating in their eyes? Was it just too much caffeine ? That’s what I attributed it to.
Now we’re at the end of December, a whole month has passed by since that Black Friday caffeine overdose. In that time I ignored so many signs and symptoms, it’s frightening looking back. I would wake up gasping for air, I couldn’t walk a flight of stairs without getting lightheaded, I gained 15# or more and every day I was having a harder time breathing. I would feel this terrible burning weight in my chest like I just held my breath for 30 seconds, but the breath was on fire. At the time I was working for a group of Pathologists. Dr Kolbeck told me if I didn’t go to the DR about my labored breathing he would drag me to the DR himself. So I went. Mostly to prove him wrong. Boy was I surprised when that EKG showed some major issues Immediate referral to cardiology. On New Year’s Eve eve Dr Bayne called with the news. Cardiomyopathy, congestive heart failure and a tachycardia- possibly a cardiac infarction (heart attack). Guess it’s not the caffeine is all I said. Medications started immediately and kept increasing and new medications added and more tests and pokes and scans. Several DR’s second opinions and 5 years later I had a Cardiac MRI that changed my future. 2 rare congenital defects that don’t play well together. Non-Compaction of the Heart, and ARVD/C. Non-Compaction meant my heart itself did not form muscle as it should in the womb and that left my heart very weak and almost brittle. Like an old stretched out dry balloon that can neither expand or deflate. The ARVD/C has to do with all the stretched out scar and fat tissue that makes up my heart conducting it’s own electrical thunderstorm of heartbeats- in places it isn’t supposed to. The plan back in April 2010- surgical ablations day one, implant cardio defibrillator day two and refer to transplant team. Did anyone catch that?! 10 years!!!! I’ve stayed stable and home with my family for 10 years. They told me to plan for it in 2010. I said not until my daughter graduates high school. I made it. I did give up working back then, and learned limitations and stayed diligent on medications. Like 99.98% of the time. But it worked Jazzlyn has graduated high school (yay class of 2020!!) and has her future lined up with the Navy. She’s a gorgeous genius and I take all the credit. She has postponed her basic training until I am home from surgery and will be one of my care takers, such a blessing. My husband will be stuck with the hard job the first 2 weeks - post op me (I’m an absolute monster after every surgery keep him in your prayers). Once I’m moved to temporary housing he will be busy keeping life as close to normal as he can at home, and driving back and forth for visits. I also have another angel that is on Team Parker as my primary caretaker when Eric is not around. Somebody please send Grace whatever she needs to tolerate me. Duct tape, ear plugs, a day at the spa
let do this!!!
I am a mom, a wife, a step-mom and a huge animal rescuer. Even as I wait for a new heart I’m saving little lives.
We have been given less time than I had anticipated to raise funds as we are trying for a donor match early July. Insurance only covers surgery related expenses. It will not cover my lodging for 6-8 weeks post op while I have to stay near the hospital. Insurance will also not cover some of my anti-rejection medications that are extremely pricey. Most transplant recipients fundraiser for the rest of their life as medications can exceed $2000 a month out of pocket.
A little bit of background:
Pretty sure other than standard childhood illnesses I was a normal healthy kid. In my teens I had a strange flutter in my chest but my dr called it hormones. Strange things would happen in my teens and early 20’s. I would black out or get the sparkles that led up to fainting. Dr called it migraines and low blood pressure. Told me to eat more salt. No joke. I was 22 when I had my daughter. As far as I knew I had a normal pregnancy. My delivery was also normal, kind of. The only thing that went wrong so to speak was my sinus rhythm. It just wouldn’t return to a sinus rhythm. Focus on I’m 22 and this is my only pregnancy, so when I leave the hospital I have no idea what happened to my heart or why. I just brought home the love of my life and was swept up in the joy of being a mom and the blackouts started again. New Dr, same answer Low BP and migraines. Fast forward 2 years to Black Friday. Sitting on the living room floor with my Starbucks quad shot tuxedo sorting Christmas Ornaments my arm went numb and I had some really sharp chest pain. What did I do? I pretended nothing happened because I was embarrassed. Really. Would anyone believe what I just felt, or would I be exaggerating in their eyes? Was it just too much caffeine ? That’s what I attributed it to.
Now we’re at the end of December, a whole month has passed by since that Black Friday caffeine overdose. In that time I ignored so many signs and symptoms, it’s frightening looking back. I would wake up gasping for air, I couldn’t walk a flight of stairs without getting lightheaded, I gained 15# or more and every day I was having a harder time breathing. I would feel this terrible burning weight in my chest like I just held my breath for 30 seconds, but the breath was on fire. At the time I was working for a group of Pathologists. Dr Kolbeck told me if I didn’t go to the DR about my labored breathing he would drag me to the DR himself. So I went. Mostly to prove him wrong. Boy was I surprised when that EKG showed some major issues Immediate referral to cardiology. On New Year’s Eve eve Dr Bayne called with the news. Cardiomyopathy, congestive heart failure and a tachycardia- possibly a cardiac infarction (heart attack). Guess it’s not the caffeine is all I said. Medications started immediately and kept increasing and new medications added and more tests and pokes and scans. Several DR’s second opinions and 5 years later I had a Cardiac MRI that changed my future. 2 rare congenital defects that don’t play well together. Non-Compaction of the Heart, and ARVD/C. Non-Compaction meant my heart itself did not form muscle as it should in the womb and that left my heart very weak and almost brittle. Like an old stretched out dry balloon that can neither expand or deflate. The ARVD/C has to do with all the stretched out scar and fat tissue that makes up my heart conducting it’s own electrical thunderstorm of heartbeats- in places it isn’t supposed to. The plan back in April 2010- surgical ablations day one, implant cardio defibrillator day two and refer to transplant team. Did anyone catch that?! 10 years!!!! I’ve stayed stable and home with my family for 10 years. They told me to plan for it in 2010. I said not until my daughter graduates high school. I made it. I did give up working back then, and learned limitations and stayed diligent on medications. Like 99.98% of the time. But it worked Jazzlyn has graduated high school (yay class of 2020!!) and has her future lined up with the Navy. She’s a gorgeous genius and I take all the credit. She has postponed her basic training until I am home from surgery and will be one of my care takers, such a blessing. My husband will be stuck with the hard job the first 2 weeks - post op me (I’m an absolute monster after every surgery keep him in your prayers). Once I’m moved to temporary housing he will be busy keeping life as close to normal as he can at home, and driving back and forth for visits. I also have another angel that is on Team Parker as my primary caretaker when Eric is not around. Somebody please send Grace whatever she needs to tolerate me. Duct tape, ear plugs, a day at the spa
let do this!!!
Organizer
Laurie Parker
Organizer
Lincoln, CA