My husband of 32 years, Shawn Sobotta, suffered a series of undetectable heart attacks the week of June 6, 2023. 

By June 8th, we knew something was wrong with him but thought he had a serious case of the stomach flu and needed to be hooked up to an IV for fluids.  When we arrived at the Emergency Room, we found out he was having an active heart attack with 100% blockage.  The ER team does not know how Shawn was able to walk into the ER, as they said he was very, very sick. 

He was flown from our local hospital to one an hour away for emergency heart repair surgery.  Two stints were put in to clear up the blockage, but that's when they discovered he had a 1-¼ inch hole in his heart, caused by the heart attacks.  His heart had literally exploded. 

We were in shock.  Before this he was a healthy 58-year-old, his heart was healthy, and he did not have heart disease.  There was no genetic reason for his heart attacks.  However, because of the hole in his heart, he was flown to UW Health in Madison, three hours away.  His kidneys had shut down, his liver was failing, and he was dying. 

Once in the ICU in Madison, they determined his heart was damaged beyond repair, and since his other organs were beginning to shut down, he would need a heart transplant.  His heart attacks were the result of stress (not genetics or heart disease), a rare condition that only 1 in 10,000 people have.  He let things bottle up and his heart was NOT happy about it. He was put on the transplant waiting list and bumped up to #1---most critical.  Without a transplant, his heart would continue to fail, which meant emanate fatality.  He was hooked up to two life support systems, Impella and ECMO, to keep him alive.  He went into cardiac arrest seven more times while on life support and was shocked back to life each time.  There were 108 tubes coming out of him, but he was hopeful… and still alive.

On June 19th the cardiac team at UW Health let us know they had found a donor---a PERFECT match---which was a miracle, as Shawn has “B-” blood type (only 2% of the world is this blood type).  His donor was a 27-year-old, who was killed in a construction accident at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI.  On June 20th, Shawn received the greatest gift---the gift of life---his donor's heart.  Shawn donated his damaged heart to the pathology team at UW Health.  They will study his damaged heart to learn more about his rare condition and how stress can lead up to a heart attack.  

On July 4th, he was discharged from ICU to my care at a hotel two minutes away from UW Health.  On July 11th, I was able to bring him home to Arcadia, WI for a couple of days.  Every other week, we had to go back to UW Health in Madison for three days of biopsies and follow up care.  As of September 14th, he was healing well enough to graduate to once a month for the next year (rather than bi-weekly) biopsies and follow up care. While at home, he goes to cardio rehabilitation three times a week and wellness checks/lab draws every other week.

To date, he has shown no rejection to the new heart, and he continues to get better.  He currently takes 22 different medications, four times a day, including insulin, as he is now diabetic, and he will need to be on anti-rejection medication the rest of his life.

When this happened, our lives stopped, even though the world around us continued to move.  We were not prepared for any of this.  Mentally, emotionally, financially… we were not prepared for this. As I stated… he was healthy before the week of June 8th.  When he became ill, we lost half our income…He was a self-employed carpenter but has not worked since June 6th and will not be able to return to work until June of 2024.   I am fortunate to work from home for an amazing company, Trane Technologies, which allows me to care for Shawn, while he continues to recover.  I am doing my best to stay ahead of the bills but do not know how long I will be able to keep up on my own.   Until Shawn returns to work, I am hoping to be able to stay afloat.  

Our billing summary with UW Health was $1,312,641.36 and our billing summary with Gundersen Health was $28,039.00.  Any funds we receive would go towards the outstanding balances (after insurance), medications Shawn will require the rest of his life, rehabilitation, and travel expenses (hotel, gas, meals) for biopsies and follow-up care.  

The awesome doctors and cardiac team saved his life… now it's my job to keep him alive and I cannot do it alone.  I need your help.

Warmest regards,

Hollie J. Sobotta