Eric's Open Heart Surgery

On December 5, 2017, Eric Migchelbrink had emergency triple bypass open heart surgery. He wasn’t feeling well previously but attributed his symptoms to the onset of bronchitis or pneumonia.  The burning and pressure he had been feeling in his chest were the post symptoms of previous unknown heart attacks that he had causing fluid to build up in his lungs.  When he went to the ER they concluded that he was having another heart attack. At that time, they performed a cardiac catheterization which determined the arteries in his heart were blocked at 100, 90 & 70 percent making it unable for stents to be placed. He was transported by ambulance to Olathe Medical Center and there he underwent triple bypass surgery.

The recovery time for open heart surgery is typically 8 weeks but since Eric is an electrician, which requires more strenuous tasks he may not be released to work for up to three months.  His job provides the health insurance for his family and since he will not be working they will be bumped to Cobra insurance and have to pay out-of-pocket approximately $1500.00 a month to continue carrying insurance.  Due to the small size of the company he works for there is no FMLA available and KS does not provide short term disability for this medical procedure, which means there will be no income for 2-3 months.  His wife, Cary, has been off two weeks from work to take care of him and will miss many more days taking him to doctor’s appointments and cardiac rehab.  Both Eric and Cary have exhausted their vacation days for the year mainly due to taking off work to take their son to appointments for monitoring and treatments for their oldest sons SMA (spinal muscular atrophy).

The recovery for surgery will be long and stressful enough without the financial burdens they will endure.  We are setting up this fundraiser so we can help cover some of the costs of medical bills, insurance and living expenses. Any help that you can offer to Eric, Cary and their boys, Kennedy and Brody is appreciated!