Michael Maliani

Hello Warrior Community It saddens me to report that we have a warrior down. Michael Maliani, a Whitesboro native- born and raised- class of 1977 is currently at St.Joesph’s hospital fighting for his life. Michael arrived at St.Luke’s for what him and his family thought was bad case of pneumonia. After testing, Doctors saw something and immediately transferred him to St. Elizabeth’s by ambulance due to an extreme concern with his heart. Michael spent the next 10 days for what doctors at St. Elizabeth’s felt was pneumonia and also kidney failure . He was cleared of any heart concerns within 24 hours of his arrival to St. Elizabeth’s. While there, Michael had a stent placed for a 6mm kidney stone, in hopes that the swelling of his kidney and kidney numbers would come down to pull him out of the kidney failure range. On July 2nd he was sitting in his chair in the hospital felt a bad pain in his stomach and stood up to try and stretch out the pain. Michael Collapsed and went unconscious. His blood pressure was under 90. His daughter Sarah arrived found him on the floor. Michael was sent for concussion protocol. Michael was discharged on July 3, from St.Elizabeth’s. Michael arrived home emotional and crying that he was homesick- missed his family . Michael was home for less than a week. His family noticed shortness of breath and edema. His family worked around the clock on his follow up care to get him seen by the appropriate specialists. Finally after a few trips to his primary care, his primary care physician documented a consistent pattern and insisted something was wrong. Dr. Refused on signing off on letting Michael leave his office and said the only way Michael was leaving, was ambulance. Michael arrived back to st.E’s with under 90 blood pressure, kidney failure. After a cardiologist consult, cardio decided he needed an echo that came back very concerning. Michael was rushed in for an emergency Heart Cath. Michaels time in the OR was short and dr rushed out to tell Michael’s wife Wende, his daughter Sarah and his sister in law Dawne; that St.E’s did not have the level of care he needed and immediately needed to be transferred. Everyone began to move quickly. Sarah left to attend to home matters and prepare her younger brother Jesse and son Brooklyn of what was going on. Wende sat patiently by Michael’s side waiting for further instructions. Within a few hours Michael and Wende were greeted by the helicopter team for transport to St.Joesph’s in Syracuse. The family was stunned and finally realized the level of severity when they learned Michael was going to have to be airlifted to save his life. Sarah returned to the hospital to relieve her mother so her mother could drive to Syracuse and be present for Michael when he landed. Sarah stayed with Michael until the last possible second prior to him taking off. Michael has never flown before, not a fan of heights, never been inpatient and never had surgery. He managed to accomplish most of his life’s fears in a few hours. Sarah sat on the helicopter pad after her father lifted off with her aunt and cousin by her side as she waited for confirmation that her father landed safely in Syracuse and her mother was with her dad.

Michael has been inpatient at St. Joseph’s Heart Trauma ICU since July 13th. Sarah and Wende have been at Michael’s side everyday, taking shifts as both women have sons home that they need to attend to and still ensure their boys are not only being taken care of but still able to be kids. Michael has had 2 surgeries so far. Everyday Wende and Sarah are told it’s a miracle that Michael has made it another day. Doctors can’t wait to go and see the man- the myth- the legend; that has arrived. Doctors have told Wende and Sarah that Michael is making history.Doctors believe Michael has sustained multiple heart attacks. On July 2nd, they believe Michael had a massive heart attack that resulted in ventricular septal defect (VSD)- ruptured the wall between the right and left chambers of his heart. Michael did not have pneumonia, his lungs were filled with blood for his heart. Currently Michael has a 3/4 inch hole in his heart. Doctors have to be strategic and bring Michael in at the perfect time to perform open heart surgery to patch up the hole in his heart. Michael will undergo massive heart surgeries once his heart takes to the patch. Sarah and Wende have been prepped that Michael will have a long stay at St. Joesphs-months. He is struggling with being in a bed and can not move due to catheters and numerous ivs. All of this is high risk. And high risk for strokes, pneumonia, bleeding and infections. He will most likely need accommodations when he gets home.

Michael is out of work and Sarah has been working around the clock to get the process started for supplemental income during this time. Unfortunately, the keyword here is “process” and process = time consuming. Michael’s family does not have time as his medical coverage premiums for Michael as well as Wende and Jesse need to be paid to ensure Michael receives the best care. Besides Michael’s heart, the most important organ to protect right now is Michael’s mind. The only thing saving him right now is having Sarah and Wende by his side- keeping him optimistic, taking care of him, and taking his mind off of things. This has been extremely costly for both Wende and Sarah with gas, tolls, Parking, lodging and car maintenance. Medical bills have already started to arrive. Those that know Michael, know that his number one priority is his family. Wende and Sarah are working around the clock to keep the financial worries at bay with Michael so he can continue to focus on mentally being strong and not worrying.

Michael is the best dad and husband. He loves being around family. He loves his pups. Michael, his son Jesse and grandson Brooklyn “B”- bond over baseball. Michael and B bond over cars. Michael is a car guy and has been a mechanic straight out of high school. Michael has worked at Pep Boys for over 30 years. He loves his “grand keeks.” He’s the guy that will give the shirt off his back. Michael was very invested in Sarah’s athletics. Made sure Sarah had the best lessons, best instructors. Stepped in to coach field hockey whenever needed. He was the best figure skating dad. He was all the skaters “dad”. Michael’s favorite thing to do is sit on the rocking chair of his front porch. Michael and Wende recently bought their dream home. He loves the Adirondacks. The Movie theatre in old forge is his favorite movie theatre. Lake placid is his favorite place in the world. He’s very proud of kids. Always brags about their accomplishments. Extremely proud that his son got a scholarship to Utica University. And extremely proud of his grandson with his athletics, especially with baseball; as B travels all over the country to play against the top players.

Funds to be utilized for health insurance coverage, medical bills, travel and lodging for Sarah and Wende, to bridge the gap between time and others avenues of supplemental income and health coverage.