{"id":55,"date":"2013-08-19T10:47:21","date_gmt":"2013-08-19T15:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1999classnews\/?p=55"},"modified":"2014-07-08T13:49:23","modified_gmt":"2014-07-08T18:49:23","slug":"ray-thompson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1999classnews\/2013\/08\/19\/ray-thompson\/","title":{"rendered":"Ray Thompson ’99"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ray\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Approximately 4 years ago Ray Thompson<\/em> started to discover difficulties with his heart. \u00a0At that time he was treated and diagnosed with heart disease. \u00a0His heart was enlarged and was not able to adequately pump blood in\/out. \u00a0During this discovery, he suffered a stroke, and was surgically outfitted with a defibrillator and pacemaker to keep his heart operating should there be an emergency.<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>On September 4, 2012, Ray was admitted to the hospital after not feeling well. \u00a0His heart had become exhausted and was in need of repair. \u00a0The doctors determined that Ray’s heart was no longer able to function on its own, and he would need surgery for a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) to essentially perform many of the hearts functions mechanically. \u00a0While Ray was in for surgery, it was discovered that Ray’s heart had increased to the size of a basketball and was in very bad shape. \u00a0In addition to the planned LVAD, a Right Ventricular Assist Device (RVAD) was also needed. \u00a0A heart transplant determination had been made as the long-term need. \u00a0<\/span>
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\n<\/span>Following surgery for the LVAD and RVAD, Ray embarked on a very tough road to recovery. \u00a0He had suffered multiple infections and required heavy sedation and doses of medications to help his system fight to recover. \u00a0Through much prayer, and by the grace of God, Ray was able to fight off the infections and recover strong. \u00a0But, this is only half the battle…<\/span>
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\n<\/span>Ray is still in need of a heart transplant and has a long road ahead to reach the ultimate recovery. \u00a0His, and his family’s, life has been altered and requires many daily changes to the normal routine. \u00a0As with a major health treatment such as this, the medical costs are escalating and expected to continue with many treatments ahead, and the cost for an eventual heart transplant. \u00a0In addition to the burden of healthcare costs, there are daily living cost adjustments with Ray’s limitations to work and provide for his family.<\/span>
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\n<\/span>This benefit is being organized to help take alleviate the financial burden for Ray and his family…and help get back to normal. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0http:\/\/www.raisingforray.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Approximately 4 years ago Ray Thompson started to discover difficulties with his heart. \u00a0At that time he was treated and diagnosed with heart disease. \u00a0His heart was enlarged and was not able to adequately pump blood in\/out. \u00a0During this discovery, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":277,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1999classnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1999classnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1999classnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1999classnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/277"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1999classnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1999classnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":200,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1999classnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55\/revisions\/200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1999classnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1999classnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1999classnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}