The Dodge Family
Our Story
My wife is only 35 years old and was recently diagnosed with heart failure. The doctors still cannot determine the cause for her heart failure at such a young age. During her stay in the ICU at the University of Minnesota, she experienced a life-threatening episode of V-Tacc that lasted almost ten minutes. The staff was waiting for her to pass out so they could shock her heart back into a normal rhythm, but she never lost consciousness. They had to shock her while she was still awake, and thankfully, her heart rhythm was restored. The doctors called her a medical marvel and said she should not have survived that situation.
Over the next week, she underwent many tests, including an arterial line, a right heart cath, and a picc line to help with testing. She has since undergone a procedure to implant a defibrillator in her chest to protect her if she goes into cardiac arrest, and she will need to go home with IV medication to help her heart function. If the medication does not improve her heart, she will be placed on the heart transplant list in hopes of qualifying for a heart transplant.
Funds raised will help pay for medical bills, in-home care for my wife and our five children. My approved leave is less than the time my wife will need to recover, so these funds will help bridge the gap and keep our family stable. Please help support our family in this devastating time of need. We have five children ages 1, 4, 7, 10, and 16, who deserve to have their mother present through childhood and beyond.
Family Updates
Newest Update
All tests, exams, and scans have been completed for the LVAD and heart transplant evaluation. The good news is that my health isn’t rapidly declining the way it was. The bad news is that my left ventricular heart function is still only 20%.
Admission for a transplant will still depend on my symptoms, my bloodwork “numbers,” and another right heart catheterization.
Although all of this is difficult and scary, the scariest part for us right now is keeping our family afloat. My health is still so poor that my doctors won’t clear me to be home alone with the kids, so Mike remains out of work. All PTO, vacation days, FMLA, and paid family leave through the state have been fully exhausted.
A family of seven is a lot, and deciding to have a big family was a choice we made. But we never expected or could have prepared for something like this. Medical bills, mortgage payments, utilities, insurance, vehicle expenses, food, and all of our other everyday costs continue to add up.
We are planning to have a garage sale the weekend of July 24th and possibly one additional weekend as well, with the date still to be determined. All proceeds will go toward helping our family. If anyone would like to donate items for the sale, we would be so incredibly grateful. If anyone knows of any other fundraising opportunities, we would greatly appreciate your ideas and support.
With the severity of my heart failure, we’re in a difficult state of limbo. I’m too sick to be left alone, but not yet sick enough for a new heart to be prioritized over others on the transplant list.
We appreciate any and all help. Thank you, everyone, for keeping our family in your thoughts and prayers.
We have gone through a lot since our journey with heart failure started. Amanda was in the hospital for a little over two weeks after we spent the first 24 hours going from cold symptoms at urgent care to being moved three more times from ER, to ICU, to Cardiology ICU at the University of Minnesota. During that time she was poked and prodded more than anyone should be in a lifetime. She had a right heart catheter in her neck on two separate occasions, one of which was left in for two days, an arterial line in her wrist almost the whole time we were there. Blood work every four hours for the entirety of our stay and a defibrillator implanted to keep her heart rhythms in range in the event she ever goes in to cardiac arrest again. I won’t go into much detail about the hospital staff itself but let’s just say that at times, that was half the battle. For every great nurse or doctor we had, there was someone else that replaced them on shift change that were just awful, both from a human standpoint and a professional one. Anyways, the weeks that followed after being discharged have been challenging. She is hooked to an IV with a pump that needs to be changed daily, and carried around in a fanny pack because she needs it to live. Having a cord constantly connected to your arm 24/7 to live isn’t something you should have to deal with at 35. Managing a household with five kids is hard enough, but trying to apply for help, raising funding to help with medical expenses, and keeping the kids lives as “normal” as possible while keeping up with all the new medicine, appointments, limitations and lifestyle changes, has added a new level of challenges in our lives. We could use an additional 10 hours in each day to accomplish what needs to be done. For now, the “to do” list just keeps growing but we are doing our best. Amanda’s heart health as declined since leaving the hospital to the point that we are currently going through the process to be added to the heart transplant list. This means a head to toe medical clearance that includes about 15 different appointments with 15 different doctors, including the dentist. Difficult decisions on quality of life if things take a turn for the worse during an operation or in general, completing a healthcare directive before we enter the next stage of our journey, and learning about the alternatives to the transplant in the event that a match isn’t available before hers completely fails. Spoiled alert, there are only two, death, and a major surgery that prolongs her wait for a heart transplant by a minimum of 6 months. So that’s where we are at the moment. This upcoming week will be a busy one as we complete the rest of her appointments to get on the transplant list. Keep us in your prayers and thank you for your support.