Please help David Estabrook with his heart transplant care

My name is Keith Estabrook and I launched this fundraiser for my brother David. I hope you will take a moment to read our family's history, and find it compelling enough to donate to my brother's campaign to help him with finances post- heart transplant.

David went into the hospital the second week of July for Congestive Heart Failure / Dilated Cardiomyopathy caused by a BAG3 gene defect. He received his new heart July 24/25. We are SO thankful for those kind and generous people who are organ donors!

My brother is not the first person in our family to need a heart transplant. He's not even the second. David is the third to get a new heart, but there were other family members who were not so lucky.

I had a heart transplant in February 2023 at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. Our father had one in February 1986 at UCLA Medical Center. Our little sister died this April 8th, while awaiting a heart transplant at the University of Colorado Medical Center in Denver. She was on track for a transplant before an anti-body test showed she would reject.

These bad hearts are NOT the result of poor lifestyle choices, but rather due to a rare gene that runs through the family that causes a disease called BAG3 Dilated Cardiomyopathy. Our hearts look great on the inside, with no plaque or blockages, but they weaken and deteriorate from the outside, becoming unable to perform their function. This gene has been passed down from my father's mom, and we have had a little brother, little sister, and two younger cousins die from this disease in the last 5 1/2 years. All but Kelly were age 40 or younger.

We can count 15 family members who have the gene. If you have it, there is a 50% chance of passing it to your offspring. Some of our siblings have the gene, and some don't. On our cousin's side (our father's brother's progeny), almost all of them have it.

The good news is David will never have to worry about this heart problem again. The bad news is that it is very expensive, even with insurance, because he will not be able to work for the next several months. Like me, David is self-employed. He is a painter, and he will not be able to lift any weight for at least 12 weeks. He will also be restricted from driving for 12 weeks. In essence, he will not be able to work. His wife is also self-employed, and she is going to need to be there to care for him. There is also the expense of medications and environmental changes to the home that will need to be made, along with an incredible amount of traveling back and forth from Orange County to Los Angeles for medical visits.

Trust me when I say I speak from experience. The heart transplant experience is a blessing, but it creates an extreme financial burden and stress to be worked through. The Go Fund Me account that my little sister Kelly set up for me did not raise as much as we hoped for, but it was a tremendous blessing to my wife and I as it helped with the bills until we could both go back to work.

The body heals better and faster in the absence of undue stress. Will you please help to ease this burden on David and Teresa? The financial burden is not forever, but it is great for the first 3-4 months, and any amount would help.

Thank you for your donations and your prayers. God Bless you!

Keith