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The Beginning

 The Beginning...

I suppose we should start towards the beginning...well not the very beginning, but at least where this journey really started to make some waves. 

On February 17th 1995 Greg was at work in the hospital, he was a surgical nurse at Alpena Hospital. That day Greg's heart failed him right in the surgical room and he passed away quickly. There were some signs ahead of time that Greg's heart function was not well, however he was a heathy 41 year old who left this earth far too early. From there Mike was tested and found that he had Dilated Cardiomyopathy; a disease of the heart muscle that makes it hard for the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body. This usually begins in the left chamber making the heart muscle stretch and thin, which makes the inside become larger than it should be. Mike had yearly visits to The University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital Pediatric Heart Center. At 14 years of age his heart changed slightly but with yearly testing was holding strong and not much of a concern. 

Mike played Basketball and other sports throughout his elementary, middle, and high school years. He even played intramural basketball while at Cornerstone University. Year after year the tests came back the same and Mike was a healthy 20-30 year old. 

In 2019 at Mike's yearly checkup his doctor suggested he move to the Grand Rapids Spectrum Health Heart Clinic to be closer to home. Mike made the move after a lot of nagging from his loving wife to go to the doctor for his check up...this is where our journey now takes place.



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