John Alfred's Open Heart Recovery
Donation protected
John Alfred is a husband and father of three who has always provided for his family and given back to the Calaveras community. Recently he underwent open heart surgery to correct a birth defect that has been causing him severe health issues. Between appointments, surgeries, and now recovery he has had to take a significant amount of time off of work. Unfortunately, he was just recently informed that he does not qualify for short-term disability benefits because he is self-employed. John worked for over fourteen years in law enforcement before changing careers and opening his own computer company. He has served and protected his community as well as given back of his own time.
In 2009, he was diagnosed with a coronary arteriovenous malformation (AVM). In simpler words, he had a cluster of four veins extending from his LAD diverting blood into the pulmonary system instead of the lower portion of his heart. He was sent to Stanford where the surgical team decided to try and block these veins with coils. In January of 2010 they went in through his femoral artery and successfully blocked one of the four. The procedure seemed to have helped even though it was only 25% percent effective until the past couple of years when he started having chest pains again. After months of going through the referral process again, he was now sent to UCSF. At UCSF they were optimistic about going back in through the femoral artery after reviewing his chart and ordering all kinds of imaging. In December they did just that but the procedure was unsuccessful. It was then decided that the best course of action would be to have open heart surgery. His open heart surgery was done on January 29th; the amazing team of surgeons were able to fix the AVM as well as repair a hole in his heart that we were unaware of.
John and his family have gone through a tremendous amount of stress already and now are faced with the financial hardship of living off of one income during his recovery. They have given much of their time to our community and now it’s time for our community to give back to them.
In 2009, he was diagnosed with a coronary arteriovenous malformation (AVM). In simpler words, he had a cluster of four veins extending from his LAD diverting blood into the pulmonary system instead of the lower portion of his heart. He was sent to Stanford where the surgical team decided to try and block these veins with coils. In January of 2010 they went in through his femoral artery and successfully blocked one of the four. The procedure seemed to have helped even though it was only 25% percent effective until the past couple of years when he started having chest pains again. After months of going through the referral process again, he was now sent to UCSF. At UCSF they were optimistic about going back in through the femoral artery after reviewing his chart and ordering all kinds of imaging. In December they did just that but the procedure was unsuccessful. It was then decided that the best course of action would be to have open heart surgery. His open heart surgery was done on January 29th; the amazing team of surgeons were able to fix the AVM as well as repair a hole in his heart that we were unaware of.
John and his family have gone through a tremendous amount of stress already and now are faced with the financial hardship of living off of one income during his recovery. They have given much of their time to our community and now it’s time for our community to give back to them.
Organizer
Sarah Weimer Alfred
Organizer
Mokelumne Hill, CA