In 2009 after five years working as Director of Network Administration with a family owned business in Buffalo Grove, my son lost his job. The company was a victim of the bad economy and went belly up. He lost his health insurance as a result and was unable to afford his expensive heart medication.
After a year of trying to find a new job his health went down-hill. He eventually found a job with a Logistics company that operated a 24hr response environment. This followed by the loss of the lead Technician who hired him caused further stress and damage to his heart.
Before my son found his new job, my Daughter-in Law had decided while my son was out of work that she would sign him up for her insurance as she had recently taken a new job with a financial Company so they had excellent health coverage for him through her policy. This proved to be a smart move.
After working for the Logistics company for a year my son finally took a few days off. Last Year at Thanksgiving, as usual my son and his family were visiting my 95 year old Mother-in-law in Minneapolis Minnesota. He stayed with my Brother-in Law to celebrate the Holiday with them. He became very ill and was admitted to a local hospital in Minneapolis. The tests showed the CHF had caused organ failure. His kidneys, liver and pancreas were shutting down. Causing a lot of issues including diabetes.
The hospital patched him up as best they could to travel closer to home. He saw his doctor at Loyola the following day after reaching home. The head of heart surgery admitted him to start the intensive tests necessary to allow him to qualify for the heart transplant program. Our family rallied around him as he fought to stay alive. His heart was only producing 10% of the heart's pumping capacity. Normal capacity is 70%.
His only viable option to stay alive was an invention only two years old called an LVAD (Left Ventricular Assist Device) or simply put; an artificial heart pump. He became severely depressed as he envisioned the limitations placed upon him by the device which at night, receives power from an electrical wall module. During the day, for mobility, he can disconnect to a 14 hour battery system. The systems are connected by a personal computer system controller that is attached to his body via a cord. The cord passes from the pump inside of his body out through a cord to the controller that runs the pump. The mobile system is carried around his waist in a belt system that resembles a fanny pack. The healing process took six months, but thankfully he is a very healthy person otherwise and follows doctors orders religiously.
The hospital stay lasted two months and included a several fainting spells as they adjusted medication and blood flow through the pump, a discharge that ended up in an immediate re-admition, and a daily ritual where I sat with him every day as he became more depressed.During this time the logistics company laid him off so it was imperative that my Daughter-in law keep her job for insurance coverage as the costs for this type of care are astronomical. She visited him in the evenings during the week and all day on the week-ends. She also was trying to study for a degree at night. I don't know how we got through it, but we did.
During the same time, my 62 year old husband lost his job and was being forced into retirement by a boss ill-equipt to deal with the type of work she was managing and a working environment that insist 62 year olds keep up physically and mentally with 25 year olds. This actually became a blessing in disguise as he was then able to helped with the load of responsibility going back and forth to the hospital as we live 45minutes away.
Upon his discharge for the first few months my son could not be alone so my Daughter-in Law and I took turns with his care. She took over most of the daily sterile dressing changes and did a great job! The icing on the cake to this whole story is that it is a life changing event when something like this happens. You look at life differently. My son has made excellent recovery, with the assistance of anti-depression medication along with heart medications, his natural heart has fought to regain back control and is now at an unprecedented 45% of capacity. His organs are back in business and his diabetes has all but disappeared. We are fortunate now to be (in the words of the Loyola head of the heart program) in "unchartered territory" where a decision must be made as to whether at this point the pump is hindering or helping his heart from further recovery and whether it should stay or be removed. Previous to this his only chance at a remotely normal existence was heart transplant followed by anti-rejection drugs that lower rejection to the point that cancer and other diseases become a realistic possibility.
To date, my Daughter-in-Law finished and received her degree, my son has received unexpected help with his finances from a friend and benefactor who pays his mortgage for no other reason than he perceived a need and has the means. This is something that we could only have imagined and proof that there really are wonderful people that give of themselves in the best possible way without expectations of repayment. We family members have all helped the cause in some way or another. His old biker friends also came through for him, both during and after his hospital stay. It's really true what they say that you only find out what and who your true support system is when you go through this type of an event.
"I am blessed beyond belief!"
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