The heart of the Forrest

Hello Friends!

Many of you know my good friend Forrest Maclean, he's a badass. 
Our dear friend is having open heart aortic valve replacement surgery in February. Forrest was born with an aortic bicuspid heart valve defect. The aortic valve is the last valve in the heart before blood is pumped to the rest of the body. Because his valve has two leaflets, instead of the regular three leaflets, the heart has to work harder to supply the same amount of blood/oxygen to everything. Recently, Forrest's cardiologist advised he start planning for an aortic valve replacement within the next six months.
Forrest is having open heart surgery to get a mechanical aortic valve replacement called On-X on February 11, 2016. By opting for a mechanical valve, it is hopefully a one-time procedure and good to go for the rest of his life. The kick in the nuts is that the mechanical valve requires blood thinners… for life. (There’s a chance he might need blood thinners if he opted for a tissue valve instead, or that he might need a pace maker with either valve… most likely not.) What this means in terms of Forrest's lifestyle as an active person who's into kayaking, kiting, skiing, biking.. etc? Hitting his head is a frequent risk and a concussion or internal bleeding could be life threatening. The alternative being a tissue valve that doesn't necessarily requiring blood thinners, but has a shorter lifespan that will require multiple open heart surgeries.

On top of the stress of having open heart surgery and potentially facing the rest of his life on blood thinners - adding to the pressure to not hit his head, ever, Forrest is going to be laid up for six weeks from the surgery. He is an unmarried new homeowner with mortgage payments, home repairs, car payments, and because he just recently switched careers to river engineering six months ago he doesn't qualify for Family Medical Leave Act benefits. Six weeks is what the doctors say for the sternum to mostly heal. This whole time the sternum is going to be held together with “twist tied surgical bailing wire." I am hoping we can help Forrest cover his expenses during the six weeks that he will be lacking paychecks and facing some significant medical bills, even with health insurance.
It won't take much if everyone just pitches in a little bit! In return you will get peace of mind that you stoked someone out as awesome as Forrest! Forrest is keen to put his conditions and information out there to help other folks in similar medical predicaments navigate the available information to better understand the pros and cons of the valve choice he is making. Forrest has helped me out more times than I can count! Help a homie out!

For more information contact me, or Forrest.