Member Profiles
Robert
Dear Friends and Family Who Have Lost A Woman In Their Life To Heart
Disease:
My mother passed away on June 8, 2005, of CHD, CAD and eventually Acute Adult
Respiratory Syndrome. She was 68. This happened completely out of the blue as
she had seemed fine up until the day she was taken to the hospital after
noticing that her calves and feet were extremely swollen and she couldn't
swallow a glass of water. She was in the hospital for six weeks, had quadruple
bypass, carotid artery repair and mitral valve repair. She seemed to be healing
fine, but she developed an infection that they could not get rid of and her
heart was just too far gone. She then suffered a stroke. After the third time
that she was put on a ventilator, and the doctors informed us of her 'quality of
life', my sisters and I were forced to do the unthinkable and honor her wishes,
having her removed from life support. As anyone who has gone through that
process knows, it is the singular most devastating thing I think anyone could
ever encounter.
My mother was the absolute core of my family. Even though she never had great
wealth and wasn't a successful business woman, she had a heart of gold and was
wealthier, in love, than anyone I knew.
The circumstances surrounding her death were so devastating to my sisters and I
that we could not provide the kind of service that we had wanted and that she so
deserved.
As a result, I have decided to produce and concert/fundraiser, celebrating her
life - with all proceeds benefiting The American Heart Association. This event
will take place in my old hometown of Leslie, Michigan, which is small, but
centrally located between several major cities. In addition to local talent, I
am in the processing of trying to secure some 'name' talent, as well, as I know
that that will only assist in drawing a larger audience and lend more legitimacy
to our goal of raising awareness and money for such a worthy cause.
A portion of this concert/fundraiser will be an "In Memoriam" section and will
include photographs, with names and birth/death dates, of those women who have
been lost to Heart Disease.
If you, or anyone you know of, has lost a woman in your life to this "silent
killer", I would be honored to include them in this memoriam. You can e-mail me
a photograph at rhempstead@hotmail.com, or you can snail mail it to:
Robert Hempstead
12620 Matteson Avenue
Apartment 1
Los Angeles, CA 90066
Be sure to include their name and birth/death dates.
With your help, we can get the word out that heart disease is the number one
leading cause of death among women.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me, again, at
rhempstead@hotmail.com
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope and pray that this event
is the success I know it can be.
Best regards,
Robert Hempstead
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