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Hello to All,

        My name is Lee and I am a 59 year old man with a wife that loves me...she says. I have a 21 year old daughter who is a junior at West Virginia University that does not know if we are rich or poor as we have never discussed our financial situation with her.

        I have a dog named pepper that truly loves me, I am sure of that, for she never leaves my side day or night. We have a cat named Gary (funky name for a cat) who I am pretty sure hates me.

        I have always worked hard and had a life until 11 years ago when I had my first heart attack. The doctors said I should have died but here I am living with 60% heart damage. All of my family has died from heart related conditions in there 40's and 50's, so I feel fortunate to be alive at 59. Still yet, it doesn't give me much hope of survival. Since my first heart attack, I have had 3 others and have not worked since 1991.

        I love life and since my disease I have gone to a fitness center 3 to 4 times a week to try and beat the odds, which probably has kept me alive.

        Two years ago my heart doctor told me to get my financial affairs in order and to have a will made up as my last Echo-cardiogram showed I only have a 10% ejection factor which is not good and I couldn't last much longer. That certainly doesn't boost the morale.

        Anyway, through my cardiologist they contacted Pittsburgh UPMC Health Center and after a few weeks worth of testing they told me I was an excellent candidate for a heart transplant, without it I would only live 1 to 3 years. That was December 2001, which gave me hope and thrilled me beyond belief. I have been on the National Transplant List for 14 months, and was told last month to lose 30 pounds and they would bring me to Pittsburgh and wait for a compatible heart.

        I am very excited about the possibility of a new heart just to stay around or a while and to give the cat someone to hate, and maybe keeping my wife happy. I have lost 10 pounds in the last month and am trying hard.

        My income consists of Social Security and my wife works for a billing service. I have Medicare which pays 80% of my doctor bills. They tell me at the doctor to stay away from stress but when they bill me for the remainder it eventually gets turned into the collection agency as we "don't pay enough" on the balance. No stress........hahahahah!

        My wife and I will have to live in Pittsburgh for about 3 months throughout this process as someone has to stay with you 24/7. Since I do not have any family besides my wife and daughter...my wife will have to be the one by my side.

        That is why I need all the help financially that I can get. We are having a tough time now and when my wife can't work...we will sink for sure.

        I am not the type of man to beg for money, and I am not asking anyone to help that can't afford to, as you certainly don't owe me anything.

        I love to hunt and fish and enjoy life. The only thing that qualifies me in asking for money is if I hit the lottery I would help a lot of people in my predicament.

         If you would like to donate on my behalf it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading my story, and I hope that God blesses all of you.

 Thank you,

Lee E. Cooke