Lets Make Mike's Long Road to Recovery Less Stressful

As some of you are aware, my sister’s husband, Mike, suffered an acute heart attack on May 31, 2024. Quite frankly, he’s beyond lucky to be alive.

This happened while he was at work. They rushed him by ambulance to the hospital, and en route, the paramedic team applied experiential due diligence, talking to doctors about his condition, and applying the necessary medical strategy getting Mike to the hospital alive. Upon arrival they inserted a balloon in his artery to deal with one major blockage, but tests revealed significant heart damage and other major blockages. The following morning he had open-heart surgery and they had to do an astonishing quintuple bypass, successfully completed by the talented cardiology team at Trillium Hospital in Mississauga. The surgery went well, but he did have some bleeding, so they had to give him blood and platelets. They removed veins from his arm and leg to perform the surgery. We are very grateful to medical science and everyone that contributed to Mike’s lifesaving effort.

On Sunday, he was moved from the ICU to the step-down unit. He is in a tremendous amount of pain, and not sleeping very well. However, again, he is incredibly lucky to be alive. The cardiologist who will be directing Mike’s after care, told my sister his heart is in bad shape for someone of his age (a young 52 years.) Mike does not smoke, and rarely drinks. He works and maintains as much of an active lifestyle that this stage of life allows for.

Mike has an incredibly long road of rehab ahead of him. This will greatly affect my sister’s life as well. On top of Mike’s income being compromised, Dayna will have to carry the weight of all household responsibilities, inside and out, do the grocery shopping and preparation of meals, drive their daughter to work, appointments, etc. all coupled with working and taking care of her husband. This stress load is an unexpected and overwhelming reality for all of us.

As her family, we are more than prepared to help in every way we can. We will overcome and go the whole 9 yards for her.

It’s incredibly hard for most people to ask for help. Dayna is no exception. She has worked hard her entire life, and we know that she will keep working hard through this situation as well.

It is our hope that by creating this fundraiser, Dayna can use the funds to seek additional help for inside cleaning, perhaps hire a service to clean the house for her once a week or bi-weekly, hire someone to cut the lawns (it has been a lifelong joke between her and I that she has never cut grass in her lifetime. Quite honestly, she wouldn’t even know how to start the lawnmower!) Connecting with Hello Fresh would be very helpful, especially if she has to continue to work during this long road to recovery.

The list is endless on how they could benefit from this. 100% would be dedicated to making their lives a little easier and less stressful.

A heartfelt, literally, thank you from all of us, xx