Hi, I'm Bob Wilz. I'm 52 years old, having open-heart surgery, and I'm both terrified and struggling financially.

As many of you already know, I am scheduled to have a triple bypass open-heart surgery. The wonderful doctors and nurses here at Ascension St. Vincent Hospital are treating me for pneumonia before I can have the surgery. I was as shocked as most of you were that 3 of the arteries of my heart were blocked: 100%, 95%, and 90%. I've always tried to live a healthy life. I eat right. I exercise and lift weights regularly. So I hope all of you understand that is why I am shocked and terrified that I need a triple bypass.

Now onto why we are struggling financially because of this. Recently, I left a really great job that I had for over 10 years. During the transition to my wonderful new employer, there would be a lapse in our health insurance for just a little over a month. We thought surely no major health catastrophes would happen in that short amount of time until our new insurance started on January 1, 2025. Boy, were we wrong. On December 27, we went to the Daviess County ER. We found out that I had previously had a heart attack at some time during the previous week. From there, I was taken by ambulance to Ascension St. Vincent. On Saturday, December 28, they did a heart catheter to check on the blockage and possibly put in a couple of stents. We soon found out that the arteries were too blocked and open-heart surgery would be needed. I have had CT scans, ultrasounds, echocardiograms, and tons of other tests, all of which will not be covered because they all happened before our insurance effective date of 1/1/2025. We believe that the biggest expense (the open-heart surgery) will be covered since it will be done after the first of this month. We would be very grateful if you could find it in your heart to donate to my heart.