Travis medical and PT equipment fund
Donation protected
HI im Travis and I have marfans syndrome or "mfs". It affects my eyes, heart, lungs, muscle strength, height, and weight. I was diagnosed when I was 2, I couldn't see very well so I went to the doctor and they noticed that both my lenses were detached from my retinas so everything I see is blurry and has a halo around it.
From there my eye doc thought I might have mfs so I was referred to a pediatric cardiologist were he diagnost me with mfs.
It was then we learned some of the manifestations "effects " that could have to happen. The frist is i would have to under go a heart valve replacement and various other parts of the arota by the age of 24 -30 my vision would slowly decease to the point of catarac surgery on both my eyes with the combination of bifocals, which is were im at now. I would never be able to play sports as a big hit could make my arota have a dissection "blowout" or knock out my dislocated lenses in my eyes resulting in near blindness, which didn't happen thank god!
Basically all my connective tissue deteriorates overtime so everything that is made out of connective tissue expands and enlarges until it breaks.
So i made it though high school with out any major problems, starting my career as a cook I would work odd jobs here and there until i had the chance to move to steamboat springs Colorado with a friend where I continued a cooking career until I was 24 when I started to heart pains and just felt worn out alot of the time so I moved back to the front range to where my family and cardiologists is and I could get better Medical care.
After two more years back I was working as a line cook but couldn't find a job with health insurance so one day at work in September 2007 I started to have extreme back pain and couldn't breathe i was rushed to the hospital where they discovered I had a rupture in one of my heart valves so I was hurried into surgery where they replaced it with a mechanical heart valve. everything went good in surgery but i didn't have insurance so I ended up having to work my butt off finding help and charity programs to get my head above water again.
So fast forward to 2009 and I've been back working since December of 2007 im just getting all my bills caught up just got out of the parents house again into my own home that I paid for, just got my enthusiasm back saw the light in the end of the tunnel when my cardiology called and said he needed me to come down and go over a CT scan.
So I go see him and he said that I would have to have my hole arota replaced and that he didn't feel like he could do the surgery because it was to risky and I didn't have insurance once again on top of that he said I have two months or less.
if I remember his exact words he said you need to get it fixed sooner than later, you have a time bomb in your chest ready to exsplode.
So once again it was left up to me to find a way to live. I got in contact will peak vista a Colorado charity health care system and through them I got a referral to the university of Denver where they said they would do the surgery for next to nothing. I spent that hole day crying because my life had been given back not only a second time but now a third chance at life.
January 2010 my AAA surgery "Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm" surgery day comes. I spend 14 hours on the table and come out with a new artificial arota from my fake heart valve down to the artery in my left leg. I wake up im still alive but I can't move my legs I cant feel anything the belly button down I im a paraplegic now, I knew there was 1 in four chance going in but i didn't know how hard it would be! Let me tell ya not so much fun,
Now I have medicare but I own nothing no car no house I rent a room. I only worked up to my mid 20!s, so I don't get much SSI, barley enough to get by month to month I dont feel well enough on a constant basis to get employment outside of my home and I dont see well enough to do jobs on the Internet it took me all day and a friend to write this. Lol
The problem is that medicaid won't help pay for anhandbike and other exercise equipment i need like a massage therapist that i really need and not being able to drive I pay a lot to get around too appointments or just to getting out my house im stuck here a lot of the time with no options to get out and exercise I feel like im wasting away because i can't afford to buy these things. And because there for paraplegices they cost a fortune so please help me live a little more with your donation.
Thank you all very much
Travis Jones
From there my eye doc thought I might have mfs so I was referred to a pediatric cardiologist were he diagnost me with mfs.
It was then we learned some of the manifestations "effects " that could have to happen. The frist is i would have to under go a heart valve replacement and various other parts of the arota by the age of 24 -30 my vision would slowly decease to the point of catarac surgery on both my eyes with the combination of bifocals, which is were im at now. I would never be able to play sports as a big hit could make my arota have a dissection "blowout" or knock out my dislocated lenses in my eyes resulting in near blindness, which didn't happen thank god!
Basically all my connective tissue deteriorates overtime so everything that is made out of connective tissue expands and enlarges until it breaks.
So i made it though high school with out any major problems, starting my career as a cook I would work odd jobs here and there until i had the chance to move to steamboat springs Colorado with a friend where I continued a cooking career until I was 24 when I started to heart pains and just felt worn out alot of the time so I moved back to the front range to where my family and cardiologists is and I could get better Medical care.
After two more years back I was working as a line cook but couldn't find a job with health insurance so one day at work in September 2007 I started to have extreme back pain and couldn't breathe i was rushed to the hospital where they discovered I had a rupture in one of my heart valves so I was hurried into surgery where they replaced it with a mechanical heart valve. everything went good in surgery but i didn't have insurance so I ended up having to work my butt off finding help and charity programs to get my head above water again.
So fast forward to 2009 and I've been back working since December of 2007 im just getting all my bills caught up just got out of the parents house again into my own home that I paid for, just got my enthusiasm back saw the light in the end of the tunnel when my cardiology called and said he needed me to come down and go over a CT scan.
So I go see him and he said that I would have to have my hole arota replaced and that he didn't feel like he could do the surgery because it was to risky and I didn't have insurance once again on top of that he said I have two months or less.
if I remember his exact words he said you need to get it fixed sooner than later, you have a time bomb in your chest ready to exsplode.
So once again it was left up to me to find a way to live. I got in contact will peak vista a Colorado charity health care system and through them I got a referral to the university of Denver where they said they would do the surgery for next to nothing. I spent that hole day crying because my life had been given back not only a second time but now a third chance at life.
January 2010 my AAA surgery "Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm" surgery day comes. I spend 14 hours on the table and come out with a new artificial arota from my fake heart valve down to the artery in my left leg. I wake up im still alive but I can't move my legs I cant feel anything the belly button down I im a paraplegic now, I knew there was 1 in four chance going in but i didn't know how hard it would be! Let me tell ya not so much fun,
Now I have medicare but I own nothing no car no house I rent a room. I only worked up to my mid 20!s, so I don't get much SSI, barley enough to get by month to month I dont feel well enough on a constant basis to get employment outside of my home and I dont see well enough to do jobs on the Internet it took me all day and a friend to write this. Lol
The problem is that medicaid won't help pay for anhandbike and other exercise equipment i need like a massage therapist that i really need and not being able to drive I pay a lot to get around too appointments or just to getting out my house im stuck here a lot of the time with no options to get out and exercise I feel like im wasting away because i can't afford to buy these things. And because there for paraplegices they cost a fortune so please help me live a little more with your donation.
Thank you all very much
Travis Jones
Organizer
Travis Jones
Organizer
Monument, CO