Medical Crisis for Chris and Tess Gutierrez

Tess Fowler and Chris Gutierrez are warriors. Heroes. They are generous to a fault. They are authentic and true and bold in their art and storytelling. They dealt with Tess' unthinkable cancer diagnosis in 2020, which had Tess walk through the valley of Chemo, Surgery, and a total reinvention of who she was.

Chris was with her every step of the way. This is a couple that has heart and dedication for each other beyond measure.

Now, the Medical Monster has Chris in Its claws. And they need our help for him.

Chris was collapsing a year ago, but he thought it was due to severe depression, which was his diagnosis after blacking out multiple times. His mother and uncle have BP issues but Chris and Tess didn't know. Though they are looking back now and seeing the signs... hindsight is 20/20.

On November 16, Tess and Chris went to the ER for her strep throat -- but Chris was showing symptoms and nausea, and she asked him to be checked as well.

That saved his life; in the ER, he was clearly in crisis, with a BP of 217/131.

They tried ELEVEN DIFFERENT DRUGS to get the BP down. By IVs, by mouth, anything they could do to keep Chris with us.

In Tess' words: "I'm to keep him off his feet for a good long while so we can get him normalized, that he was heading for an inevitable stroke... and if he misses a dose [of his medication] he WILL have a stroke."

As of today, November 17th, Chris is home now, but his BP continues to spike. They have a long road ahead.

"We're waiting for a doctor's appointment tomorrow to see the next steps. Right now we are still in survival mode," says Tess.

Chris is not going to be working for months. Tess' work is halted while she takes care of Chris.

Can she do it? This is TESS we're talking. Of course. She's got his BP meds and the testing under control and is ready to be Caretaker One.

But life goes on. And bills. And medical expenses.

And we, the Family of the Heart, are all the family they have.

What we can do:

Their monthly overhead is roughly $4,000. The doctors are saying months, not weeks, until Chris is back on his feet, but every $4,000 raised is 30 days where money isn't a problem they have to solve. They have enough to deal with already. 

So please do donate whatever you can, and please signal boost. Literally every single dollar helps. 

Thank you.