Hi! I'm Rikki Simons. I'm a writer, artist and voice actor (Gir on Invader ZIM)!My family on my father's side has a history of heart disease going back generations. My grandfather and great grandfather both died of cardiac arrest by the time they were 40, and my dad had four heart attacks and quadruple bypass when he turned 40. He passed away in 2011 at age 65, finally succumbing to cardiac arrest. Seeing this history when I was a child I tried to prepare for it by making sure I took care of my body. I never smoked or did any drugs, I avoided fast food, and made sure to always walk and keep active even in car infested Los Angeles. I'm 46 now and I did a pretty good job of staying healthy. Tests show no bad cholesterol or blockages or any plaque in the arteries, so I thought I was doing good and avoiding the family curse.Last September things changed unfortunately. While visiting Atlanta Georgia for a signing at Dragon Con I was admitted to the hospital for extreme heart palpitations and what I can only describe as the sensation of my heart being stretched like it was made of rubber. After an overnight stay and many tests the doctors determined that I have a weak heart, and have probably always had one, and that the culprit appears to be a type of arrhythmia called Atrial Flutter, a rare electrical malfunction of the heart (like a broken robot). All these years I just thought I was bad at dealing with stress. I mean, I am bad at dealing with stress, but this doesn't help obviously.Medication is keeping me pretty healthy at the moment, and I am still going through a lot of tests to decide my next steps. If I want to fix the problem for good it looks like I will probably be needing surgery, hopefully some time in the next few months. Still, I'm otherwise very healthy and everything is looking good. But doing all this medical business is expensive in America. My one night stay hospital bill was close to $18,000 and thankfully insurance covered about $16,000 of it! But I'd like to get some of these remaining medical bills under control before they turn into a rampaging monster. That's why I'm doing this GoFundMe.I'd like to give you something in exchange for your donations so I'm offering hand inked and water-colored pictures of the character I'm known for. Anyone who spends more than $40 on this campaign is welcome to pick out one of my little GIR paintings. I can finish the first 50 pictures by December 15, which should be enough time to get these mailed off in time for Christmas.Please choose one of these three paintings (5.5 inches x 8 inches). Tell me if you'd like A, B, or C when you donate and let me know if you'd like them autographed to anyone in particular.Here is A:Here is B:And here is C:Again, these are original paintings. Thanks everyone! Hope you all have a nice holiday season!