Support Aj’s road to recovery

My little brother, Aj Sagon went into surgery on November 22nd for an ablation procedure for his heart. A generally 4.5 hour surgery with small incisions and a quick recovery. Their goal was to find and take care of the part of his heart that was malfunctioning and causing his worsening arrhythmia. The process involves using small wires/tubes with a camera that go through veins all the way up into the heart. About 4 hours into the surgery, my brother went into cardiac arrest due to one of the wires poking a small hole into his heart. They had to perform compressions and resuscitate him twice. He was rushed into emergency open heart surgery where they worked for a few hours to repair the hole. I am thankful that the surgeon on call was the Chief of Cardiology Surgery, the best man for the job, to save my brothers life. However, sometime during the process, two blood clots broke free and went to his brain causing two strokes. One of the strokes is causing him mobility issues with the right side of the body. We didn’t find this out until Thanksgiving when they did a scan of his brain. Aj is in a lot of pain both physically and mentally.

Aj spent a few days in ICU and was then moved to a normal room to continue recovery. It has been a little over a week and Aj has made significant progress. He is perfectly able to eat, drink, speak, see, and understand what’s going on. So far no visible disruption in cognitive function. He has continued to make progress with his right side every day with help from physical and occupational therapists multiple times a day. He has regained feeling in his right leg and after a few days has been able to walk on his own. He is able to lift his right arm but is still struggling with his right hand/fingers. He is 21 years young and his brain has been working amazingly hard and fast to recover and make connections again.

The doctors are amazed at how quickly Aj is progressing. He will be leaving the hospital soon and will be transitioning to doing out-patient physical therapy instead of the planned in-patient. They will continue to work with him to help recover his hand from the stroke.

Because of the open heart surgery, broken ribs from compressions, and the strokes, Aj will be very limited in the activities he can do for a few months. He will also be out of work for awhile. The financial hardship will be significant for my brother following this horrible unexpected event. His life has only just begun and will never truly 100% be the same because of what happened to him.

Any financial support for Aj to help him pay for medical bills and living expenses is so greatly appreciated.

Our family appreciates all the love, support, and prayers we’ve received. It is hard to understand the way God works sometimes and why he allows these things to happen to the people we love. But we are doing our best to remind ourselves that God knew this tragedy would take place and was right by Aj’s side and brought him out of it alive. Please continue to send all your positive vibes and prayers to my family and thank you so much for your time!