HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - A local mother of two is waiting for a life-changing surgery at a Broward hospital.
Photos, balloons and messages from loved ones decorate the hospital room of Jennifer Michaels. Michaels has been hospitalized for the past month as she awaits a new heart. “I feel it, I feel that I need it,” she said. “I was really weak at home and tired.”
Michaels suffers from a heart condition that she lost her mother to: Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. “She’s suffering from end stage heart failure, an abnormality of the muscle of the heart that makes it lose the ability to pump effectively,” said a doctor.
A new heart will give Michaels a chance at a new life. “And I look forward to it. I just want to feel better,” she said. “I want to brush my hair without my arms being heavy.”
Michaels is waiting at Memorial Regional Hospital, however, she requires a special heart. “Women that have had multiple pregnancies can develop anti-bodies in their blood that will react against the tissue of other people,” the doctor said.
Michaels is not alone and has the support of her family and friends. “Some of us will make food, bring it over,” said Michaels’ friend, Ashley Kaunfer.
Confer has also helped care for Michaels’ youngest son and has even created a group to help raise money for her. The cause is called Jennifer’s Heart Warriors.
The wait for Michaels has not been easy, but she knows that getting a new heart will not be easy. “It’s gonna take a special heart to come in for me,” she said. “A special person has to give up, and a family has to give that up for me because I need that to continue to raise my family.”
For more information on Jennifer’s Heart Warriors, go to www.youcaring.com/jennifer-michaels-559389.
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