Basically, I was born with half a heart. The right side of my heart is essentially missing…and over the years I have had multiple open-heart surgeries and heart catheterizations. Frankly, I am bionic because they put double stints in my heart, which is mostly unheard of.
I love going to concerts and festivals, live music, my friends, my awesome family, traveling, working out, and cooking. I aspire to be a chef one day and travel the world to see different music festivals. I am looking forward to the day I get my transplant and get back to doing all those things I love.
The result of having half a heart has led to other complications, such as pressure issues that lead to internal bleeding, protein loss enteropathy (the body doesn’t absorb protein) and that leads to a boatload more complications. Recently I have been in and out of the hospital due to my liver leaking, and they have had to drain the fluid that builds up as a result of the leaking.
I have had really great doctors all across the country, keeping my organs in my body for the last 21 years. But it’s time for a couple of them to come out and get replaced with new ones! The complications have gotten severe enough that it’s time for me to get put on the heart and liver transplant list. In the next couple of weeks, I will be going to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to have a procedure to slow down the leaking. After that, I will have to move to Philadelphia to get put on the waiting list for a heart/liver transplant. The expenses for all the treatments, travel and the transplant itself are really overwhelming.
I am starting this campaign page with Help Hope Live to share my journey, and hope that those that love me, know how hard this is, or just want to help a fellow human will support my fundraising efforts or just pray for my healing!
I would love to hear from you! I am so grateful to everyone that has been there for me during this journey, and looking to meeting and making new friends as I embark on a new chapter!
Thank you for your support and prayers!
Family and friends of Samantha Mazza are raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with Catastrophic Illness.
Samantha has chosen to fundraise for Help Hope Live in part because Help Hope Live assures fiscal accountability of funds raised and tax deductibility for contributors. Contributors can be sure donations will be used to pay or reimburse medical and related expenses. To make a tax-deductible donation to this fundraising campaign, click on the Give button.
For more information, please contact Help Hope Live at 800.642.8399.
Thank you for your support!
