My mom has been perfectly healthy since going into remission for her cancer 18 years ago. In the beginning of October she started having an some shortness of breath doing daily tasks. She went to the doctor and he said it was an asthma flair up. Fast forward a week later and things had gotten really bad. She went to the hospital and things were WAY worse than we suspected. On admission her kidneys were not doing well, at one point they stopped producing urine. Her body was retain a ton of water around her heart and she was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. We have run all the trypical tests, she's undergone 2 cardiac caths, and was in and out of ICU twice (currently in). But we still don't have a cause of all the sudden onset of heart failure. I treat heart failure patients for a living, and I have never seen someone's heart worse off than my mom's. For my medical friends, her EF is 9%

Today, it's been 10 days since she was originally admitted. Yesterdat she had a swan ganz catheter placed in her neck that measures the pressures within the chambers of her heart. The pressure is high, but we already knew that would be the case. The reason for that catheter was because looking at her from the outside she looks like she's doing better. But when doctors attempt to remove some of the drips she has or attempts to give her meds that could help her heart recover, she crashes and rushed back to ICU. At the moment, we have exhausted everything that Northwestern Huntley can do for her. We have initiated the transfer process to Northwestern Memorial downtown Chicago. They have a few options for mom that we will try first, but it is very likely that we will be getting mom on the heart transplant list. She will be in the hospital for the unforeseeable future.

I am so grateful to have had my work colleagues and physicians work so hard on my mom. But downtown will be the best place for her right now.

Money from this gofundme will go towards paying her bills while she's hospitalized. In addition: transportation, food, and all the random costs for our family as we anticipate traveling downtown daily. Anything left over will be used to offset the cost of me being off work. I anticipate taking a leave for as long as I can, but I am out of payed time off and I am the only income in my home (where my mom resides) currently.