Hello and thank you for taking the time to visit my page. Time is valuable, and life is precious...I realize that more now than I ever have before. Today I am 43 years old. I have a son, 3 stepchildren and a beautiful girlfriend. I have a wonderful life. Unfortunately after a recent knee surgery I began to experience what we now know to be symptoms of heart failure. In short, I need a new heart. Recently I was flown to Las Vegas from Reno to try and get the open heart surgery I need done. Sadly, not only could they not perform the surgery, but still sick, I had to figure out how to get all the way back home, alone, and at my own expense. While Medicaid does cover most of the medical stuff, travel expenses are not on that list. There are only two other places in the US that can perform the surgery I need. One is at Stanford University, and the other is in Maryland. Before the surgery can happen, I need a heart. However, in order to even get on the transplant list I need to get to Stanford for an evaluation. This is the part where YOU save the day! We need money for all the expenses not covered by Medicaid. Gas money, lodging (since COVID regulations will not permit anyone  to stay with me in the hospital), some of the medications I need to pay out of pocket, as well as rent and all of our other bills that have been piling up. Between dealing with my medical crisis and caring for the kids as they attend school from home, both of us can no longer work. Financially we have a lot more going on than we can handle. The main goal right now is to get to Stanford for the evaluation so I can get on the transplant list. I have no idea how long everything is going to take and cannot imagine what our out of pocket costs will be. What I do know is this: I have an amazing family who has given absolutely everything they've got to help me through this. Their love and support have taken me this far. The way they depend on me is how I must now depend on the kindness of strangers to carry us all the way through. So I ask you please, have a heart and help me get mine! Every donation you make gets me closer to beating this. And again, I thank you for your precious time.