The Hop family

For background knowledge, my sister's husband, Jon, is a Class 3/4 Heart Failure patient. He was diagnosed with Non-Compaction Cardiomyopathy 13 years ago. He has a pacemaker/defibrillator that helps keep his heart arrythmias somewhat normal. Jon is one of the happiest people I know. He NEVER complains about a thing, so most of you are probably not aware of any of this. He is only 45 years old.

Jon's health has changed in the past six months. He had Covid (for the 2nd time) and then Pneumonia, in early November. Since that time, he has had difficulty breathing and keeping fluid off his heart. Friday night he came home from his 2nd job in rough shape. My sister knew he needed to go to the ER as soon as she saw him. Jon was admitted to Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo immediately, awaiting a bed to open up at U of M in Ann Arbor. Once he was able to be transported there, his labs demonstrated that his kidneys were shutting down and his body was going into shock. This caused his pacemaker to not function correctly and blood was not able to pump to organs, causing them to begin shutting down. An emergency procedure was done that inserted a balloon pump to pump blood to his organs. His body is not able to do this on it's own at this point, and the doctors are wanting to do a heart transplant.

Jon is now awaiting the transplant at U of M, but the doctors are working to get his kidney numbers back up so that this can be implemented. It will be a long road ahead, and Jon is a middle school teacher and will likely not be able to work for a bit. They will incur significant medical expenses, lost wages, and other travel and transportation expenses as Krissi travels back and forth from Kalamazoo to Ann Arbor, trying to manage their daughter and care for all. Your help is so very much appreciated as we surround this family with love and support. Please consider donating to help them during this time.