Everything seemed normal then, overnight, twenty-three year old Erik Rodriguez found himself in a fight for his life. The day his world changed he felt a little off; he was tired, his heart was beating fast but he couldn’t quite put his finger on exactly what was wrong. Like any fit, hard-working young man would, he tried to shake it off with a nap, with work, with a bite to eat and of course, with a work-out. Nothing helped but after the work-out his heart was racing uncontrollably and he was beyond exhausted. He decided to go home to his five dogs and sleep it off and hope he would feel better in the morning...

Morning came two weeks later. Erik woke up to nearly twenty tubes coming out of his chest and torso and a loud, cumbersome artificial heart keeping him alive.

What Erik didn’t know was that his heart had inexplicably enlarged to nearly twice the normal size and he would have likely died had his mother, Alejandra, not known something was severely wrong. She insisted on taking him to Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee instead of sleeping it off. He was put into a medically induced coma and after a short overnight stay was taken, by helicopter, to Harbor View in Seattle, Washington for specialized care.

On Thursday, November 17th 2016, Erik underwent his first surgery to receive an artificial heart that would keep him alive until a suitable heart could be found for him. One of the scariest things in his life was waking up, without a heart, without recollection of the passing of days, and without a clue what would happen next. Though the artificial heart kept him alive, it wasn’t even close to an ideal situation. Erik was exhausted and couldn’t walk or stand without assistance. The first time medical staff had him on his feet, he fainted. The pain was unbelievable and the young man who once fished on commercial boats, and ran up fourteen foot warped walls could do nothing but lay down and languish and pray for a new heart.

The wait would take months and in that time Erik went from a fit, thin framed one hundred sixty-five pounds to a shell of himself at one hundred twenty-five pounds. He couldn’t eat or drink; any attempt on his part was met with an inability to process the food. His medical staff told him, had he not been in such good shape, because of his size and the severity of his situation he likely wouldn’t have survived.

While Erik fought for his life, with his mother faithfully by his side, his community fought for him the only way they knew how. His home gym, CrosSport, hosted a silent auction in December to raise funds to help with his medical expenses. The effort, spearheaded by Erik’s friends, Missy Scott, Denise Ferguson and David Parades, was able to raise over $4,000. Gym and community members like Jim Heinlein and Chris Mann reached out and were able to bring in some high ticket items like a signed Seahawks football. Later, in January, Erik’s brother, Ivan Rodriguez, organized a fundraiser through Dutch Bros. Owners Jimmy and Danielle Crocker donated a portion of the day’s proceeds and in one incredible day, the community came out in droves to buy their coffee and support Erik’s surgery and raised over $15,000. The estimated costs of his heart transplant are well over what’s already come in and the family still has an online donation site opened for friends and supporters to donate to Erik’s medical expenses. https://www.youcaring.com/alejandrarodriguez-691136

Despite the support the odds were stacked against Erik. Only one in three hearts donated are eligible for transplant. In 2015 alone, ninety-four people in Washington died while waiting for a heart. But no one gave up. Prayers ascended to God from family (Erik says his mom prayed every day), friends and even the medical staff. He decided to be part of a clinical trial to receive a donated “heart in a box” which keeps the heart warm and beating during transport instead of iced in a cooler. Without the four hour restriction associated with hearts in coolers, the chances of getting a heart from further away were better.

The prayers were finally answered and on January 27th Erik got word there was a heart available. He was once again prepped for surgery but this time when he woke up a week later everything was different. With the new heart came a new energy level, Erik was up and walking, under medical supervision right away. Because the heart was slightly large for him he had to have his chest open for about eight days and have his ribs cracked to fit it in but he says there’s no comparison to the artificial heart. A real heart offered freedom and restoration; the loud noise and burden of carrying the artificial heart around is gone, the tubes that had been protruding from his chest and abdomen came out, one by one, and the breathing and feeding tubes were removed. He only has one drain tube leftover from the artificial heart and that should come out in due time as well.

Now Erik appreciates the life and heart he was given more than ever and is working on a new normal. He is staying in a “transplant house” near the hospital since his discharge on February 17th but hopes to be home in four more months. He’s really looking forward to coming back to the valley and most of all to his dogs who he Facetimes with regularly. Though a full recovery is anticipated within a year, at this time Erik is working on gaining back the weight he lost and appreciating the little things in life, like taking showers and getting outside in the fresh air. The regimen of forty-nine pills he currently takes will taper with time but Erik will always have to be on the anti-rejection drugs and avoid certain foods that can counter them. Despite the changes, doctors have told Erik he’ll be able to do all of the activities he once enjoyed including hiking, fishing and working out. After a year he can decide if he wants to make contact with the family of the person who donated the heart through a registry system. He isn’t sure about that yet, but the new, gifted heart has given Erik a sense of responsibility to the person who donated it and to himself to be more conscious of how he takes care of his body.

Every day is a gift and everyone, especially his mom, who has supported and stood by him has been a blessing in his life. Erik want’s to extend his utmost gratefulness to God above and to everyone who has prayed, visited and supported him through this. Luckily for Erik, life will go on and he won’t take it for granted but with gratitude for the second chance he’s been given.

There are a couple ways you can help with Erik’s medical expenses:

Donate directly at Erik's You Caring Site

Purchase Catching Tatum and a portion of all proceeds will be donated to Erik’s medical expenses.

For as long as I’ve hiked with my regular crew from the gym, Run Wenatchee and Leavenworth, I’ve watched one particular woman in awe. Her name is Ana … and she is a powerhouse! Strong, fit, smart, articulate and capable of hiking ridiculous miles hours faster than I would ever dream of. Imagine my surprise when Ana said she’d be willing to share her Before & After story.

How could Ana have a Before & After story? How could my inspiration, this beastie beauty, ever have been anything but the epitome of what a fit chick is? How could I say no to an interview like that? We set the date and I went, questions in hand to meet her for dinner at her place.

I was not prepared for the delicious spread she set before us but knew in an instant, nutrition was as much a part of her healthy lifestyle as fitness was. The spinach salad with accents of fresh mouth watering little bits was as good to look at as it was to taste but her potato & broccoli soup with its Latin flare was one of the most delicious soups I’ve ever tasted and stole the show. It was hard to focus on the interview with the flavors bursting in my mouth, but I managed and what I learned gave me so much more respect for a woman who already hung the moon for me. I’m sure you too will be awed, inspired and encouraged by her story.

Ana grew up in a Hispanic family where good food, not health or nutrition was celebrated and she really never knew a different way of life. She grew to be a woman who appreciated the flavor of food more than fitness and considered the walk from the parking lot to the office quite enough exercise for any day of the week. She married a chef and together they enjoyed decadent food and she spent most of her twenties over weight but mostly happy.

At her heaviest Ana was about one hundred eighty pounds and hovered around one hundred seventy. Despite the weight Ana says she always felt like she had a level of self confidence that kept her from caring too much about how heavy she was, but in retrospect she suspects it was more of a defense mechanism than the true self confidence she knows more about now. If she could, she would tell her younger, unhealthy self that she had much growing up to do. And the growing for Ana began with a heartbreaking revelation and tragic divorce. In a state of shock and depression she lost fifteen pounds in two weeks and in a matter of months the grief had reduced her to a shocking one hundred twenty pounds.

Ana was literally a shell of her former self. The sorrow of the loss invaded every aspect of her life. She’s grateful for the understanding people at work who empathized and were patient with her through the trauma. Finally in 2012 Ana knew something had to give, either she needed to make some life changes or her life wasn’t going to be good for much of anything. She started going to Gold’s Gym in Wenatchee. Like all rookies, it was a daunting, foreign, unknown venture. But true to the iron spirit inside her, she didn’t quit, bend or break under the intimidation. She learned, she evolved and she came to be a woman who loves her body.

“It has done so much for me, the least I can do is love it and take care of it!” she told me with a twinkle in her eye only a fitness enthusiast can express. Before long Ana was comfortable in her gym and now regularly works out every morning for about an hour enjoying a mix of cardio and weight lifting. She hates to miss even a day and has added evening WODs (Work Out of the Day) at CrosSport to supplement her morning routine a couple times a week. Admittedly she hates to miss working out but neither the weights at Gold’s or the WODs at CrosSport can make her body, mind and soul sing the way the mountains can.

Unbeknownst to me in 2015 Ana started hiking with the same crew of avid and novice hikers as I did. Because of her prowess and ability on the trail I assumed she was an old pro at hiking but apparently the hike up Mt. Cashmere that was transformative in my life, was also her longest and most arduous hike up to that point. And in the summer of 2016 she was out nearly every weekend hiking some trail or peak, challenging, training, using and loving all her body could do.
Hiking has certainly been the most exhilarating part of Ana’s transformation but the most surprising part happened in the kitchen. Ana realized she loved to prep and cook food and figure out how to incorporate good health into what she made. Having a chef for a husband had given her the impression the she “couldn’t” cook but after the divorce as she started cooking for herself and learned that, not only could she cook, but she thoroughly enjoys it. She’s given up processed muffins, high sugar drinks like mochas and soda and restaurant food for five or six clean, healthy meals a day and figures her meals are whole and clean 70-80% of the time. One of the hardest things in the transformation has been to find the balance in her nutritional plan especially when it comes to social events and activities where unhealthy options are rampant.

As she looks forward to the future Ana doesn’t see her healthy lifestyle changing. It is a lifestyle she enjoys and encourages others to participate in as well. Before the change she was sluggish and struggled to have the motivation to get up and get active, now she loves to move and care for her body. Her best advice to everyone including herself is to remember how far you’ve come on your journey. She tends to look too far ahead and gets stuck in physical perfectionism and forgets to celebrate all her accomplishments. Do it for the right reasons. Love yourself and take care of your body out of that love and maybe you too will become one of my health and fitness heroes or heroines!

Erik Rodriguez, a 23 year old fellow gym mate at CrosSport, has been fighting for his life since Tuesday November 8, 2016. Erik and his mom Alejandra Rodriguez went to Central Washington Hospital ER because Erik was complaining of chest pains. After an overnight stay he was flown  to UW Medical Center in Seattle. His mother, father, brother and sister drove and met Erik and doctors there. Doctors said he was really sick and in critical condition. He has been diagnosed with heart disease. His heart was was enlarged and beating over 180 beats per min. The doctors in ICU decided to use an ECMO a circuit/machine outside his body that's working as his heart and lungs.

Erik Rodriguez is a fun-loving, adventurous young man who has lived with determination and dedication to the people and things he loves. Erik is a humble, unselfish, kind human being. Everyone he meets falls in love with him. He is always looking out for his family and friends. Over the last several years Erik has come out of his gaming shell to immerse himself into a real world of fun, fitness and community activity. Always one to trust those around him, Erik thought nothing of sticking his hand in the mouth of what he thought was a shark, because his friend told him to. Lucky for him the “shark” was a sturgeon which doesn’t have teeth. The moment, though, is a picture of how Erik embraces life, with fearlessness, with trust, without hesitation. He can’t swim, but it didn’t stop him from fishing on the Columbia River where the waves sometimes threatened to toss the crew overboard. Though he never tried it before, the first time he saw the 14’ warped wall at CrosSport, his gym, he set his mind to conquer it. Within two months of steadfast practice to day in and day out, he was victorious. Erik grew to have a zest for life that exceeded the walls of a room and the light of a gaming monitor. He had fun with friends and family participating in all kinds of different events and always had a smile or look of determination set on his face.

Erik underwent a procedure (Ventricular Tachycardia Amblation) Monday, November 14th to try to correct the heart rhythm problems. Unfortunately the procedure was not successful and Erik will be transferred to a long-term care facility while he waits for a heart transplant. The medical bills and expenses to his family will be difficult to surmount. I will be donating a portion of every Catching Tatum ebook and print edition sold to his medical expenses. The family is asking the community at large to help by praying for his health to be restored and support his medical fees by donating to his medical expense fund at: https://www.youcaring.com/alejandrarodriguez-691136 Thank you and God bless!