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10,000 Hearts For Gina
An art project to raise awareness of RSD/CRPS and Scleroderma as well as share the art with other patients and caregivers.
My name is Patrick Guerre and my wife Gina has been sufferring from RSD/CRPS and Scleroderma for several years. In March of 2013, she had lost nearly 40 pounds and was in the hospital when one of the doctors approached me and told me he thought that Gina would be lucky to live a year. I came home that night and found so many emails and messages to Gina and to my surprise, me personally, I realized that Gina had touched so many people.
The diagnosis was scary, but they put in an intervenous feeding line to get Gina some nutrition as it was futile using the feeding tube directly to her stomach. The scleroderma had caused to much damage and she now does not absorb the nutrients she needs. As the days ticked past and the letters kept coming, I decided to paint a few hearts to take to Gina's room. The project had unknowingly begun.
After Gina got home and we were in talks and taining for all her medical needs at home, it looked as though the insurance would not cover the intravenous supplies and we started to worry as the weeks passed and the bills started to rise substantially. With this fear on my mind, a friend and I were talking and I had mentioned the hearts I painted and the letters. He asked how many hearts I would paint if I could and I said that I bet Gina has touched at least 10,000 lives so I guess 10,000. He then went and started a fundraiser to help with everything we needed.
Since this incident in March of 2013, I have given up all work as to be a caretaker for Gina. It affords me the time to paint but it is difficult to maintain the materials I need to continue. Through some luck and a whole bunch of amazing people, I have managed to paint 700 of the hearts by the end of April, 2015. %7 seems so small but I am on my way.
In the last part of 2014, we started sending out hearts to other patients and caregivers as we can afford to do so. It has been, a bit rough but we are managing to get at least 1 out for every $100.00 raised through a sale or through donations. The rest of the money that is left over is then used to purchase more materiels such as paint, canvas, packing material. We are saving a bit to donate to 2 non profits as well.
It has been an amazingly emotional journey from showing a dozen or two hearts at a show in 2013, to over 500 in April of 2015. We have been able to educate 100's, if not 1000's of people through this project. We have cried, laughed, hugged, smiled, met amazing people, and it seems, keep raising awareness that I personally never thought I could do.
With all this said, I hope you will consider helping out with this project. From just simply learning about RSD/CRPS or Scleroderma, to sharing the site with family and friends, or best of all, making a contribution if your heart feels it.
No matter what, I will continue to do everything I can to keep my wife as healthy as I can, in all hopes she will live long enough to see this dream realized, as well as continue to spread the love to patients and caregivers, and raise as much awareness as I possibly can.
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