2020 has not been a good year. We can all admit that. And I know you all may be struggling financially. But in May of this year Kim’s family doctor became concerned with a heart murmur that had been present for awhile and other symptoms such as unexplained weight gain, excessive exhaustion and shortness of breath. After extensive testing with no clear diagnosis, and almost passing out after a day of landscaping, she sent Kim to a cardiologist. The cardiologist diagnosed Kim with a mitral valve prolapse, that was causing leakage and uneven blood flow. Due to this diagnosis, Kim will have to have surgery to repair the valve on July 15. Not something anyone would expect the day after their 45th birthday. She just started a new job and due to this and other medical problems caused by the stress of her previous job, she does not have enough sick leave to cover the hospital stay let alone the recovery time. The doctor is recommending that she recover at home for 5weeks after a hospital stay of 4-5 days - through the end of August, which will all be unpaid if she cannot get any donated leave. She is not eligible for any short term disability as the VA does not offer it and cannot get unemployment because she is technically still employed. At this time it is not considered open heart surgery because they plan on going in robotically through her right side, but if they can’t fix it that way they will have to cut open her sternum, which could be a longer recovery time.
Kim has already lost a substantial amount of income due to COVID-19 and was struggling to make ends meet - trying to send Logan off to college at Missouri Valley on August 12. She will also lose child support when Logan turns 18. The bills for the tests, visits, and medications are already piling up. If you can help in any way financially please do so. If you can’t, and you are a federal employee, please donate leave. And if all you can do is pray, please do that. If you’ve known or met Kim over the last 11 years you’d know that everything she has done has been for Logan. She has participated in all of his events, is loved by all the other kids and constantly has kids at her house, and has been supportive of all of Logan’s endeavors - only missing games when she was hospitalized for other medical conditions. She was already having a hard time with depression, knowing that her only child, her spoiled baby, would be going off to college 9.5 hours away from her soon. To add to the stress factor, because of COVID-19, no one in her family can fly out to be with her during surgery. I plan on making the drive from Texas and will be the only one there (from out of town or family) with her and Logan.
Kim has been extremely unselfish forgoing a life of her own in order to make sure that her son was raised right and had nothing but fond childhood memories with her. I hope you can help us do something special for her at this time of dire need. Kim does have health insurance through the government but it does not cover everything. Out of pocket expenses are expected to be approximately $2,000 and loss of income is expected to be approximately $8,000. Please donate to help Kim during this critical and stressful time in her life.