Leo's Medical Fund

To our family & friends,

Thank you to everyone who has shown so much love and support to Leo thus far. Every prayer is appreciated and now more than ever we need them.

For those of you who don’t know the full details of Leo's story, it began when he was just a few days old. Fresh home from the hospital, his mother received a call advising her to bring Leo back to the hospital. Eventually they found that Leo had a condition called Tetralogy of Fallot. Tetralogy of Fallot is a congenital heart condition involving four abnormalities occurring together:

1). Ventricular septal defect – A hole between the two bottom chambers, the ventricles, of the heart that permits oxygen-poor blood from the right ventricle to mix with oxygen-rich blood from the left ventricle.

2). Pulmonary stenosis – Narrowing of the outlet to the pulmonary artery area with an abnormal pulmonary valve impeding blood flow from the right ventricle to the lungs

3). Right ventricular hypertrophy – Thickening and enlargement of the muscle of the right ventricle

4). Overriding aorta – a case in which the aorta overrides or straddles the wall ( the septum) between the ventricles, permitting oxygen-poor blood to flow through the VSD into the aorta.

Since untreated Tetralogy of Fallot is fatal before the age of 20, Leo's parents were told that open heart surgery was mandatory to remove his right valve  and eventually surgery was performed on him when he was 1 ½ years old. The surgery went well and the family was told with regular check ups with his cardiologist Leo would be able to live a normal life but eventually would need another surgery to replace his right valve.

Fast forward 25 years, to a young vivacious hard working and active Leo. Whether he was skateboarding, shooting street photography or playing his beloved game of soccer he was always on the move. Eventually he started feeling different. It was no longer easy for him to run across a field or walk up a flight of stairs. One day while at work, he began to feel a sharp pain in his chest. With the pain being unbearable we went to emergency.That day Leo was admitted to the hospital and stayed for 5 days under close observation. It turns out, Leo was about 15 years past due for his 2nd surgery. After 9 months of specialist visits at Holy Cross Hospital and eventually UCLA, we came to find that Leo will be having his second open heart surgery to replace his missing valve. As with any surgery it can be nerve wracking but we know that Leo is in the best of hands not only with the surgeons at UCLA but with God as well.

We have set a surgery date for February 23, 2017. We are told the surgery will take between 3-5 hours and then 5 days recovery in the hospital. Once he is home we are looking at an 8 -10 week recovery. We are grateful that with today's medical technology this will be the last open heart surgery Leo will have to endure. With Tetralogy of Fallot, valve replacement is needed every 10 years and going forward the surgeons will be able to perform this with a simple laser placement usually done through the thigh.

It will take a while for his chest bones to heal from surgery but are told that within a week post surgery Leo will feel like a brand new person. His breathing will improve 100% and within a few months he will be able to resume doing the things he loves like soccer, bike riding etc.

With the way the economy is today, we are very grateful that Leo has medical insurance. However it does not cover all of the costs. And with him being out of work for a couple of months it will be a struggle to keep up with our regular living expenses.

The purpose of this fund is to:

* Help with medical expenses

* Help keep up with living expenses

* Help to replace lost wages

Anything helps! A prayer or a penny. It is all appreciated.

Thank You!

Leo & Erika