Support Mike and Laura's Heart Surgery funds

Michael and Laura could really use our help right now, please consider making a donation to help relieve some of their financial burdens, any amount will help. Michael has recently undergone open heart surgery due to complications with a routine defibrillator installation that poked two holes in his heart.

I will back track now and give you some history of Michael's health journey. Michael was diagnosed with congestive heart failure at 38 years old, he has had limited heart function ever since. Last year in February 2024 his heart function had decreased from functioning at 30 percent down to 20-25%. The doctors had recommended that Mike meet with an electro-cardiac physicist to discuss having a Defibrillator placed to help prevent sudden death. Ultimately he decided to put it off because he was trying to use diet and exercise to improve his heart and had just proposed to Laura over Christmas and was planning a wedding for November 2024. At that time, he had too much on his plate and did not want to risk the procedure. Fast track to Feb 2025, Michael's health took a turn for the worst and so he admitted himself into the hospital 3 times over the course of a couple of weeks to try and figure out the cause of his symptoms, but hospital staff were unsure of the cause and he was provided with no relief. Finally, Michael was able to get an appointment with his cardiologist and they found that his ejection fraction had gone below 20% and he was admitted to the hospital once again. Michael was relieved of his symptoms and put on some new medication to help his heart and was told he will probably need a heart transplant eventually. They decided that it was a good idea to get a Defibrillator installed so they scheduled the procedure for a couple of days later.

During the procedure a lead/wire from the device punctured his heart putting 2 holes in it and sent his heart into tamponade (blood entered the sac around the heart not allowing it to contract). He went into cardiac arrest and coded blue on the table. The team did CPR for 20 minutes and was able to get a pulse so they could rush him up to surgery to repair the damage to his heart. He underwent open heart surgery where they were able to find and remove the lead and suture the 2 holes in his heart. Thank god he survived, words cannot express how greatful we are!!

Although they do have insurance to cover a portion of the expenses, the insurance only covers about 80%. Surgeries and hospital stays are so astronomically expensive these days, and when you are compounded with an unplanned surgery and weeks of hospitals stays and tests, the expense for out of pocket patient responsibility can be unbelievable. This is a huge financial burden for them and given the fact that Michael is on furlough and not working at the moment and they are surviving on Laura's salary alone makes there situation even more vulnerable and frightening . Please consider helping them through this very difficult time, any amount will help and they will appreciate it very much. Thank you for taking the time to read this and we are so happy Michael is still with us.