To all family and friends,

At the end of December, Olivia had a late-night emergency while she was at work and went to the hospital for shortness of breath and breathing issues. She spent six days in the Cardiovascular/Heart wing at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Olivia was officially diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure. The cardiologist confirmed that her long-term high blood pressure wore down her heart, and now Olivia will need to work on rebuilding her heart strength by following a heart-healthy diet and will be on several heart medications likely for the rest of her lifetime.

This news also came at a time when both Olivia and I just started new jobs and we haven't met the 90-day criteria for health insurance yet. It has been a long few weeks for her personally and for us as a family as we continue to learn about the medications, the heart-healthy diet, tracking weight, checking and writing blood pressure readings twice a day, and a lot of doctor's visits. Olivia has been an absolute rockstar through this whole process and is doing great with her new diet and new routines!

With the sudden shock of Olivia’s diagnosis and the shock of the medical appointments, and the medication she will need to help her strengthen her heart, we are lowering our guard and asking for donations to help us navigate the beginning of this journey as a family, and to help Olivia in her journey to strengthen her heart!