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Hello family and sweet friends. We are starting this gofundme for our Dad, Steven Hehner and Mom, Cindy Hehner. We've had such an incredible out poor of love for dad and people asking how they can help. We've been very hesitant on starting this but feel it can help take away some worry and stress from how we're trying to accomidate the costs of going to and from San Francisco for Mom and those family members that have traveled far to help.
Mom has been in San Francisco with dad since his first surgery for a double bypass on 4/13/2017. This is completely optional but if you would like to help out, this fund will assist mom with being able to rent a place to stay down in San Francisco with dad so she doesn’t have to live in the waiting room 24 hrs a day. This would give her a place to rest, shower, park and recharge herself to handle the next hurdle of Dad's present condition. Being at UCSF every day adds up quickly. This would also give additional family the same benefits when they visit for days at a time to keep mom and dad company through this hard time. When dad pulls through and out of critical condition, it will be months of recovery before he’ll be allowed to leave UCSF.
I've tried to update daily since Dad's first surgery. There is an incredible amount being thrown at Dad right now that these updates can't even touch. It really is taking it hour by hour at this point. The updates I'm hoping are giving most a general idea. I will continue to do this for you all and this will be another place for those without facebook can see those updates.
Dad...where to begin. He IS the most humble and giving human we know. He has taken Doing Unto Others to a whole different level. He's always put himself last and he'd have it no other way. His love for the church and our Heavenly Father is so strong and special and he lets everyone know. His love and pride for his family is something we always feel and cherish.
To bring those of you who haven't seen the updates I mentioned, this is a breif summary that can bring you up to speed. Dad went into urgent double bypass surgery on Friday 4/14/2017 at the San Francisco VA hospital which started out with the original intent of only having to have a stent placed. It ended up being a Quadruple bypass by the time he got out of surgery.
Saturday 4/15/2017
Early the next morning they determined that the excess bleeding from his chest tubes needed to be addressed immediately. One of the valves was bleeding, so they had to do a 5th bypass. They ended up having to keep his chest open to relieve pressure on his heart. There was excessive blood pooling in his heart so they preformed another surgery and inserted an impella pump to help assist with pumping. Shortly after this surgery he had yet surgery placing an ecmo machine to help assist his organs with getting the oxygen they needed to his organs. His liver and kidneys are now in danger of failure.
Sunday 4/16/2017
The ecmo machine surgery was done right in the ICU as Dad was to critical to move to the OR. They finished that up close to 4am Sunday morning. Sunday was a day there was a small break.
Monday 4/17/2017
Dad was transferred from the VA hospital to UCSF by ambulance for their additional resources in care that he needed. Upon arrival to UCSF they needed to perform another surgery on his left leg due to lack of blood flow. He is now in the care of Dr. Georg M. Wieselthaler .
Tuesday 4/18/2017
Since Dad's blood is so thin right now the bleeding from his left leg was concerning. They had tried a cauterizing procdure that didn't show signs of improvement. They preformed another surgery in the ICU room later that afternoon since he was once again to critical to move to the OR.
Wednesday 4/19/2017
Tuesday’s efforts seemed to have helped the bleeding from his leg to significantly reduce. They're trying to address other issues such as Dad's ability to respond to us where they have a nuro team trying to get a better idea of that.
Thursday 4/20/2017 as of 3.30 pm
Today Dad had a CT scan to help see some concerns they have with the fluids building up. It turned out negative with no fluids in his tummy. They are preparing to have surgery tomorrow to clean his chest dressing and get a better idea at how Dad's heart is doing.
To all those who have been following and visiting since the start...we thank you for all of your love and prayers during this difficult time. There is so much love for dad. So much. We know he knows it and we hope that he can pull through this so that he can see it for himself.
Anything extra that is donated after Dad’s recovery, we would like to donate it to the San Fransisco VA hospital. The staff, nurses and doctors there took such great care of dad and their dedication and commitment to their patients was very reassuring, but they do lack resources and we believe that our VETs deserve as much care as they can get. Seeing this first hand has for sure been an eye opener.
Mom has been in San Francisco with dad since his first surgery for a double bypass on 4/13/2017. This is completely optional but if you would like to help out, this fund will assist mom with being able to rent a place to stay down in San Francisco with dad so she doesn’t have to live in the waiting room 24 hrs a day. This would give her a place to rest, shower, park and recharge herself to handle the next hurdle of Dad's present condition. Being at UCSF every day adds up quickly. This would also give additional family the same benefits when they visit for days at a time to keep mom and dad company through this hard time. When dad pulls through and out of critical condition, it will be months of recovery before he’ll be allowed to leave UCSF.
I've tried to update daily since Dad's first surgery. There is an incredible amount being thrown at Dad right now that these updates can't even touch. It really is taking it hour by hour at this point. The updates I'm hoping are giving most a general idea. I will continue to do this for you all and this will be another place for those without facebook can see those updates.
Dad...where to begin. He IS the most humble and giving human we know. He has taken Doing Unto Others to a whole different level. He's always put himself last and he'd have it no other way. His love for the church and our Heavenly Father is so strong and special and he lets everyone know. His love and pride for his family is something we always feel and cherish.
To bring those of you who haven't seen the updates I mentioned, this is a breif summary that can bring you up to speed. Dad went into urgent double bypass surgery on Friday 4/14/2017 at the San Francisco VA hospital which started out with the original intent of only having to have a stent placed. It ended up being a Quadruple bypass by the time he got out of surgery.
Saturday 4/15/2017
Early the next morning they determined that the excess bleeding from his chest tubes needed to be addressed immediately. One of the valves was bleeding, so they had to do a 5th bypass. They ended up having to keep his chest open to relieve pressure on his heart. There was excessive blood pooling in his heart so they preformed another surgery and inserted an impella pump to help assist with pumping. Shortly after this surgery he had yet surgery placing an ecmo machine to help assist his organs with getting the oxygen they needed to his organs. His liver and kidneys are now in danger of failure.
Sunday 4/16/2017
The ecmo machine surgery was done right in the ICU as Dad was to critical to move to the OR. They finished that up close to 4am Sunday morning. Sunday was a day there was a small break.
Monday 4/17/2017
Dad was transferred from the VA hospital to UCSF by ambulance for their additional resources in care that he needed. Upon arrival to UCSF they needed to perform another surgery on his left leg due to lack of blood flow. He is now in the care of Dr. Georg M. Wieselthaler .
Tuesday 4/18/2017
Since Dad's blood is so thin right now the bleeding from his left leg was concerning. They had tried a cauterizing procdure that didn't show signs of improvement. They preformed another surgery in the ICU room later that afternoon since he was once again to critical to move to the OR.
Wednesday 4/19/2017
Tuesday’s efforts seemed to have helped the bleeding from his leg to significantly reduce. They're trying to address other issues such as Dad's ability to respond to us where they have a nuro team trying to get a better idea of that.
Thursday 4/20/2017 as of 3.30 pm
Today Dad had a CT scan to help see some concerns they have with the fluids building up. It turned out negative with no fluids in his tummy. They are preparing to have surgery tomorrow to clean his chest dressing and get a better idea at how Dad's heart is doing.
To all those who have been following and visiting since the start...we thank you for all of your love and prayers during this difficult time. There is so much love for dad. So much. We know he knows it and we hope that he can pull through this so that he can see it for himself.
Anything extra that is donated after Dad’s recovery, we would like to donate it to the San Fransisco VA hospital. The staff, nurses and doctors there took such great care of dad and their dedication and commitment to their patients was very reassuring, but they do lack resources and we believe that our VETs deserve as much care as they can get. Seeing this first hand has for sure been an eye opener.
Organizer and beneficiary
Cindy Hehner
Beneficiary