Walt’s Surgery & Recovery ❤️‍

Chances are, if you live in the Twin Ports or you’re involved in music in this area, you know (and are probably a friend of) Walter Raschick, AKA Walt Dizzo. Perhaps you know Walt as the former Director of the Homegrown Music Festival, or maybe you have listened to or been featured on his long-running KUWS radio program, the Walt Dizzo Show. Maybe you know him as a Trivia Mafia host at Pizza Luce, or as the DJ providing the soundtrack to your night. However you know him, Walt’s been a fixture in the Twin Ports music community for many years, and it goes without saying that he is a wonderful dude who helps this community out a great deal.

Case in point: Walt’s heart is literally too big for his body. He was born with a congenital defect called bicuspid aortic valve (normally, it’s a tricuspid valve). Instead of the heart pumping blood out normally, in Walt’s case, it flows backward, known as severe regurgitation. His aortic chamber is thus severely enlarged. All this extra stress put on the heart can lead to congestive heart failure (CHF). The only fix in this situation is to replace the valve altogether, which is done via open-heart surgery. A successful replacement of this valve could should result in a reversal of the CHF, and essentially, Walt becomes Iron Man (technically his replacement will be made of carbon but that doesn’t sound as cool).

Walt has already completed five days of testing at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he will return on August 7th in order to undergo pre-operative testing prior to surgery. Currently, the surgery is scheduled for August 9, the day following his 42nd birthday. This is a generally safe surgery, but it’s a big deal: It will result in a lengthy rehab, and there is risk for complication with any surgery, so he will remain at Mayo for several days in case of any complications. Walt will be taking around twelve weeks off of work to recover upon returning home. This type of surgery will result in a good deal of pain and discomfort, and going forward, he will be making various lifestyle changes including taking meds to prevent blood clots and stroke. However, it will give him a whole lot more life to live, which makes it all worth it.

I’ve put this GoFundMe together with the hope that we can help Walt lower his out-of-pocket costs with this surgery. There’s also the cost of hotel lodging before and after the surgery, among other costs. He doesn’t want to ask his friends for money, but we know how much this community adores him and how willing you all are to help out, so if you can, pitch in and help this amazing guy out. If you can’t help financially (or even if you can) there will be opportunities to help with meal trains and other things. We will update this GoFundMe as we’re able with surgery updates and other pertinent information.

We want to sincerely thank you for anything you can give.