Down on my luck doesn't begin to cover it...

Hello, my name is Tony and I have a story to tell. It's a story of hope and loss, fear and pain. It's my story...

Last year I was forced to medically resign from my job as I was no longer able to productively work and keep up with a full-time schedule. My heart failure advanced to end stage from 2022 to 2023 and I needed a transplant, still do. With loss of income and inability to work I was forced to file for disability, but I still had to pay my bills during this time and have nearly maxed out my credit card.

My LVAD (Left Ventricular Assist Device) was implanted on September 13, 2023, as a bridge-to-transplant solution to keep me alive long enough to hopefully make it to a transplant.

In October, my mother passed away and I was unable to even go to her funeral because I was still recovering from the surgery... I didn't get to attend my own Mother's funeral because of this! I love my mother very much and I miss her every day.

Let's spare you the sob story in between and say that although I've been surviving on my LVAD, things are rough. From allergic reactions to my driveline dressing to stints at the hospital despite managing my sodium and sugar intake. Then we get to last week on September 29th.

I caught a stomach virus, a 24-hour bug, that made me vomit so much I got dehydrated so severely that I blacked out, fell and broke my leg in 2 places. I woke up long enough to call 911 before my Internal Cardio-Defibrilator fired and made me jump nearly 2 feet, further complicating the situation as now it was a cardio event on top of a broken bone!

I'm still sitting in the hospital now, a week later, despite being brought back to stable condition because physical therapy won't clear me to go home until I have a handicap ramp installed because I can't climb 5 stairs on my broken leg!

Please help me! Disability doesn't pay enough to manage my rent, utilities, credit card (which paying rent and utilities made me run up to over 14 thousand dollars!), food, medical and travel expenses to and from doctor's appointments! I applied for SNAP (food stamps) and they only approved $23 per month! Good luck living on that when you have a restricted diet! Now in order to go home I have to rent an access ramp which my insurance won't pay for because it's not considered an emergency need. Total cost of the rental MINIMUM $2000!

We all need help sometimes. This is me asking for help. Please! I am begging. I can't manage all this anymore and I'm running out of time!