Alfredo's Heart Transplant

Alfredo has struggled with a genetic heart condition (LMNA) that caused him to have various life threatening arrhythmias, dilated cardiomyopathy, as well as heart failure. Since 2009, he has had several hospitalizations and surgeries, including multiple ablations, cardioversions, heart catheterizations and 3 pacemakers. In the summer of 2013, his heart began having aggressive ventricular arrhythmias, causing him to have multiple shocks by his ICD. He was flown on a medical jet for emergency surgery to San Francisco where a doctor performed an extensive ablation procedure in all chambers of his heart, on the inside and outside of the heart. Unfortunately, the surgeon said there were nerves in two areas of his heart that he could not ablate because of their location, and eventually those nerves would mature/grow and cause fatal ventricular arrhythmias. The doctor said that nothing more could be done for Alfredo's heart condition. Two weeks later, Alfredo was then evaluated and approved for a heart transplant in Denver. Since he was placed on the heart transplant list in August 2013, he has flown up to Denver for regular check ups every 3 months with the transplant team. On Monday, March 30, 2015, he went up to Denver for some routine testing. We thought this would be just another ordinary office visit, but to our surprise, the doctor informed us (at 2:30 pm) that a potential match would be available THAT DAY! He said that never in his entire career has a match come in at the same time that a patient was in for a general office visit. We were stunned & speechless. The doctor told us to sit and wait for them to verify whether or not it was a perfect match. At 5:25 pm, the doctor came in and said, "It's a go!". Alfredo was admitted to the hospital and prepped for surgery. Surgery went from 3:25 am to 7:00 am on Tuesday March 31, 2015. This is his new heart birthday! Our hearts go out in love and gratitude to the donor and their family for their precious gift which gave Alfredo a second chance at a new life!

Alfredo will be in the hospital for 2 to 3 weeks after his heart transplant.  After he is released from the hospital, he will need to stay in Denver for 3 months for frequent check ups, bloodwork, medication adjustments, and heart biopsies.  Since he is from Albuquerque, he will need to pay for an extended stay hotel with a kitchen, and an extra bed for his caregiver(s).  The Hyatt House is the location he has selected, as it is relatively close to the hospital, and one of the most affordable fully furnished hotels.

His wife, Melissa will be commuting back and forth frequently from Albuquerque to Denver, in order to take care of Alfredo for 1 to 2 weeks at a time.  At home, they have a daughter Isabella, & a poodle named Sophie that also need to be cared for in Albuquerque.  Melissa will continue working as much as possible in Albuquerque in between her trips to Denver.   In order to save costs, Melissa will drive up one of their vehicles to keep in Denver so that any of the caretakers will have transportation to drive Alfredo to his weekly transplant visits.  Melissa's mother Mary Morrison-Martello has generously offered to fly out from Michigan to help care for Alfredo for 2 weeks, or longer if necessary.  

Some of Alfredo's brothers and sisters will also be traveling to Denver to help with the caretaking.  Gaby will be flying back and forth from San Diego several times to help out for 4 to 7 days at a time.  Art will travel from Albuquerque to help for 4 days as well.  Adriana has mentioned that she may be able to help at some point.  We are still trying to coordinate the dates that his brothers and sisters will be available to help.

All of these caretakers will require plane tickets to & from their place of residence.  We would like to raise money to cover some of these expenses so that Alfredo can focus on a peaceful recovery.

We are comforted by all of your prayers, love, encouragement and support.  From the bottom of our hearts, we want to thank you immensely for all of your generosity!