Victor’s Story

Site created on June 14, 2020

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting. 

Victor is currently a Cardiothoracic ICU patient at the University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC). He has advanced heart failure, the most severe state of heart disease.  However, this is his first heart attack. The cardiologists consider him "young" (under 50) for these recent events. 

On June 11, 2020, Victor suffered acute cardiogenic shock from a massive heart attack while undergoing a diagnostic evaluation. This was a blessing in disguise, because if he'd had the heart attack outside of a medical setting, he would have died within 48 hours.

Victor had shortness of breath the day before his heart attack and went to the Emergency Room, where Annie joined him. The ER physicians observed concerning abnormalities pointing to an evolving "cardiac event" and admitted him to the hospital overnight. He was scheduled for diagnostic tests and a coronary angiogram the next day. They identified an aggravating condition called diabetes ketoacidosis, which is a life-threatening problem in itself.  

After Victor's heart attack, we were transferred to a larger hospital, UWMC-Montlake, to access a wider range of equipment and expertise.  There the Cardiology team put in three stents and cleaned his heart valves from blockages.  They expected that his condition would improve within 3 hours, but things did not get better. The cardiologists recommended that Victor go on life support because his heart muscle tissue was weakened by the cardiogenic shock.  Whereas the normal amount of blood pumped out with each heartbeat ranges from 55% to 70%,  Victor's left ventricle ejection fraction was just 5-10%.

The care team says it is Victor's youth and right side of his heart that is keeping him alive.  These factors are supported by ECMO, a heart-lung bypass system that uses a pump to circulate blood through an artificial lung back into the bloodstream. Along with an impella catheter, ECMO is helping pump and circulate blood throughout his body while allowing Victor's heart time to rest and heal. 

If you pray, please pray that:

- Victor's heart would strengthen so he can come off life support and avoid some of the advanced heart failure therapies (i.e. heart transplant).

- If a transplant is needed, pray that we would gain the favor of those selecting recipients for the transplant list. 

- If we are not selected for the list, please pray for a complete miracle (heart muscle expansion) so that we can access another therapy. 

- Pray that Vivian, who is Victor and Annie's daughter (8 years old), would be comforted and shepherded during this uncertain time. 

Many of you have asked for some ways to help. A meal train and other ideas to support Vivian are available from the "Ways to Help" button on this site. 

Thank you for your love and support,
The Kuo Family


Newest Update

September Update from the Family

Journal entry by Annie Kuo —

Dear Friends,

This weekend the Stanford Asian Pacific Alumni Summit (SAPAS) played a video tribute to Victor during their 2020 virtual summit. Victor was on the steering committee for the 2017 and 2020 summits. It was sweet to hear people's thoughts about working with him -- SAPAS committee members called Victor their "backbone"!

I made the video with the support of lbsen Productions. Use the link below to view:

Video Tribute to Victor

Vivian and I would also like to invite you to Victor's celebration of life on June 19, 2021 in Shoreline, Washington. More information is available now at: http://celebratevictor.com

The "Additional Links" tab has links to more content around Victor's life and passing. 

Many people have asked about Vivian. In her own words this week:

Viv: I'm OK.
Annie:  You're OK. Really? 
Viv:  Yes, I'm OK.
Annie:  It's OK to not be OK. I'm still very sad. You see me cry everyday.
Viv: Yes, but I'm OK. I'm OK because Daddy is OK.
Annie:  Ah yes, Daddy is OK.  
Viv:  And I have you.
Annie:  I'm still here.
Viv:  And Khun Tah (Grandpa) is moving in.  

Vivian meets regularly with a children's grief counselor and I have found comfort and support through a program called GriefShare. Thank you all for your love and care toward our family. We're making our way, day by day. We miss Victor very much.

The GoFundMe campaign will close on September 30th. Thank you to all those who have so kindly given. We will be responding with memorial cards. 

About a dozen of you have made tribute donations to CaringBridge. The donations power the site as a free platform to everyone, and we have not directly benefited from those gifts. If you meant for those donations to go to the family, CaringBridge is happy to refund your gift. They are really nice there and they understand!  To contact them, click on this link. You can reroute the funds to @Ann-Kuo-2 on Venmo. 

We will likely remove this CaringBridge site within the year, but hope to stay in touch. If you have Victor's cell number, we are working on making it our home residence line. Please reach out anytime via the Celebrate Victor site or by mail/email:

Annie and Vivian Kuo 
PO Box 60024
Shoreline, WA 98160

All the stories and remembrances of Victor have been a comfort to us.  Thank you so much. 

Kindest regards,
the Kuo Family

Read More of the journal titled "September Update from the Family"
  • Victor's final resting place, Grace Terrace inside Rose Hills Memorial Park, Whittier, CA
    Victor's final resting place, Grace Terrace inside Rose Hills ...
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