Janice Henderson

My name is Janice Henderson and I am a proud Honorably Discharged Disabled Veteran of Riverside California March Air Force Base. It is a gift to be a natural care giver. The gratitude and peace within me I hold dear to my heart, knowing I was able to help families learn that they can create positive changes in their lives is a blessing. Helping them identify their self-worth and learning they are valuable and this remains as a rewarding memory of my life’s journey.

I graduated High School in 1974 and shortly after I worked with the Middletown Board of Education. Then later joined the US Air Force in 1975 and contributed in many meaningful ways as a Dietitian Therapist Specialist I served until 1977. I put my best efforts forward and continued my education attending the Indiana University of Bloomington Indiana where I majored in Special Education. I returned to Ohio wanting to give back to my community, I took a position as a Youth Leader at the Group Homes for Hamilton County Department of Human Services in Cincinnati Ohio, which expanded my career to a Family Service Advocate for the Head Start program. I relocated to Colorado Springs and worked as a Teacher’s Assistant at the Greg Bemis Daycare Center. I was happy to give of my time working to foster many families throughout my career at the El Paso County Department of Human Services of Colorado Springs as a Child Welfare Family to Family Administrative Technician for 21 years and retired in 2018.

I was diagnosed in 1997 with the medical condition; Ventricular Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. A condition in which the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick.
“Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy makes it hard for the heart to pump blood. It often goes undiagnosed. This condition cause shortness of breath, chest pain, or abnormal heart (arrhythmias). Treatment for included surgery of an implantable device (pace/defibrillator), and medications to slow or regulate the heartbeats.”

I had my pacemaker/defibrillator) surgery in 2010 for the next (10 years). My hopes were filled with “I get to live another day, another month, another year”! In 2010 I sadly experienced my first signs of my medical condition increasingly changing for the worse. The defibrillator pacemaker was overworking and my medications were increased for me to remain functional. I was hospitalized regularly and was in constant pain. My Cardiologist Dr. Eric Carlson in Colorado Springs identified that my condition dramatically became a life and death situation. I was referred to a specialist at the UCHealth Vascular and Heart Center in Aurora Colorado. This where I met Dr. David S. Raymer MD and his Transplant Team. The Transplant Team attended to my fragile health condition throughout the required testings and evaluations to become a candidate for a Heart Transplant. These were the first steps of hope to no longer be on borrowed time that gave me the will to one day very soon be able to return to a God willing healthy active life, where I can continue to give back to the community in need.

I remain prayerful for many reasons and one is to live without the fear to die, and that God will provide me a new heart just right for me! With a selfless amazing prayers and wonderful Heart Transplant support team, I am courageously standing in faith. I pray that many will want to give selflessly as I have given throughout my life. Creating this fundraiser platform to help raise the necessary medical funding to provide stability in moving forward is a blessing. Each of your contributions helps me to hope for a healthier, happier life. Each donation is tax deductible. Please continue to join me throughout my new Heart Transplant journey.

Thank you family and friends of Janice Henderson for helping to raise financial support through the nonprofit Help Hope Live Foundation secure my medical expenses associated with my transplantation.

Janice 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!