Joshua Spencer began feeling an irregular heart beat in 2015. His heartbeat felt like a hiccup in his chest, or several hiccups in quick succession. He describes it as the “heart skipping a beat” part of being startled without the gasp, fright, or jump. He noticed it most during rest, when his mind and body were not preoccupied. Concerned, in September, he visited a cardiologist. Initially he was diagnosed with what is called a right bundle branch blockage, which would cause a misfire in the way the electric signals in the heart tell it to beat. This would have been a condition he could live with.
Because the irregular beats happen multiple times a day, he was given a heart monitor to wear for a month to track the frequency of these occurrences. Due to the high frequency of the irregular heartbeat, he then was given an echocardiogram. This test revealed a hole between his atria, and an enlarged right side of his heart due to the extra work it has to do to compensate for the back flow of blood to that side of his heart.
His cardiologist scheduled him for a transesophageal echocardiogram to determine how large the hole is, telling him that these can frequently be fixed by running an instrument on a catheter up the femoral artery of his leg. Surprisingly, this new test showed that the hole is large enough, and his heart has too little tissue for the clam shell patch to clamp onto, he needs to undergo open heart surgery. They will, put him on a heart and lung machine, open his chest, and stop his heart to repair the hole. He will be going in for an MRI on January 6th to map the vessels around his heart, to try to eliminate or find any further complications that may arise. Then Joshua will have his surgery in February.
When Joshua was an infant, he was diagnosed with a heart murmur – which many children grow out of. Joshua’s condition is known as a congenital Atrial Septal Defect. He was born with this condition; it is not a result of improper lifestyle, nutrition, or lack of exercise.
Without this surgery, his condition will worsen. The right side of his heart will continue to get bigger, as it will have to work even harder as he ages. This will result in an increased risk of heart failure and stroke. Joshua is 30, and the doctors anticipate a full recovery, with the right side of his heart shrinking to normal size, as long as he has the open heart surgery now. The longer he waits, the worse his condition.
This surgery will take months for recovery. At least two at home, while his sternum heals, and many more months after for a full recovery. His sternum will not be fully healed for as much as a year. He will need to find a new job during recovery, because though the doctors prescribed two months of bed rest, he will not be recovered enough for the manual labor, lifting 100 pounds of liquid cleansers up flights of stairs among them, that he performs on a daily basis at his current job.
He also works for such a small company, less than 15 employees per state, that the Family Medical Leave Act, which would cover 12 weeks of his recovery, does not apply. They also do not have disability insurance, which would be of assistance as well. We are currently looking into what assistance the State of Utah offers for people in Joshua’s situation.
We are asking for help. We need help to cover the co-pay for Joshua’s hospital admission, as well as covering the two months he will be unable to work right after surgery.
Joshua and his family and friends are scared but hopeful.
This initial goal of $5000 will cover living expenses Joshua will be unable to earn during his two month recovery process as well as the hospital admission copay.
Thank you for your love and support.
Joshua and Lesli Spencer
