"I Need to Find Somebody That Cares"
In 2020, the Bicuspid Aortic Foundation heard from a man, (I will call him Mathew, not his real name) who had been told a few months earlier that he had a bicuspid aortic valve. He was also told that he had an aortic aneurysm whose diameter was just under 5 cm. He mentioned several questions he had, as he pondered his active life and what options for surgical repair one day might mean to his future.
He closed that first message by saying that he felt quite lost as he worked through what these discoveries about his heart and aorta meant. And then he wrote, "I need to find somebody that cares."
A Day in April 2020 - Lost
It wasn't Heart Valve Day, it wasn't Heart Month, and it wasn't Thoracic Aortic Disease awareness month (which BAF observes in September). The COVID-19 pandemic was very real, but that is not what weighed so heavily on him, moving him to contact the Bicuspid Aortic Foundation.
It was a day in April, 2020, when this man, needing information, compassion, understanding, and hope, reached out across many miles and borders. There are no borders when it comes to this!
Above all, Mathew needed "somebody that cares".
How do I know so well what Mathew needed? Experience. The myriad of emotions from the time when we desperately searched for information and help for a bulging aneurysm above my husband's heart are not forgotten as I write this twenty years later.
Not the least of those feelings were the icy tentacles of fear, not inappropriate when confronting a reputed killer. That icy fear began to melt in a surgeon's office, in the presence of accurate information, a plan for treatment, and from that moment forward, lifelong, compassionate care.
Yes, we had a great deal in common with Mathew, having never met him, on that April day in 2020.
A Day in March 2021 - Strength
Not quite a year later, in March 2021, what is it like for Mathew, who was lost and needed someone to care?
He was moved to reach out again, from a very different place. There is no mention of feeling lost, but rather a tone of strength. "I am doing well", followed by beautiful words of encouragement, which we all need so much!
When this happens, whenever we move from fear and confusion to the place of informed empowerment, we have strength to fully live, making informed decisions for ourselves and sharing our strength and courage together.
How do we at BAF know this? Experience.
Mathew has done this, these recent months.
Many others have done it too.
At BAF, we are here to walk with you, whenever you would like.
Moving from fear and confusion
to accurate information,
being in touch with those who
understand and care,
Living our lives,
Creating a Climate of Hope,
~ Arlys Velebir
Bicuspid Aortic Foundation
