Ally's Second Opinion, a heart that won't give up!

My name is Brittany,

In an act of desperation, I am asking for a small amount of help for someone beyond special to me, my baby sister.

Meet Ally,

The baby of 4 kids, at the young age of 32, she has spent countless days admitted to our local hospital fighting heart failure, advanced cardiomyopathy, A-Fib, and countless other complications. With her heart's (EF) ejection fraction sitting at 15%, her current cardiologist came into her room one morning recommending she have a cardio ablation as well as a defibrillator put into place. He was clear that this procedure would improve her heart functionality by at least 45%. This was exciting news for all of us to hear since two cardioversions failed almost instantaneously. It wasn’t until then that everything started to fall apart. Sending her home on a PICC line with medication pumping directly into her heart, helping it keep going until October 22nd when she was set to have this procedure done. Between her home nurses being unreliable, doctors not checking in, ER visits, incomplete blood draws, and potassium levels dropping dangerously low due to their failure to communicate and perform their duties, her medical team failed her, pushing back her procedure due to their inability to make sure her PICC line pump and medications were on point.

In 2007, our big sister passed away unexpectedly at the age of 19 due to complications of a heart transplant. Ally’s medical team is now saying that this procedure will not help her as much as they led us to believe, and even after its completion, she will still have to be referred for advanced therapies (heart transplant). This is crazy talk, people; Ally has done everything they have told her to do. She is beyond involved in her care and refuses to give up. It’s too soon to give up; she has so much life to live and so much to live for. Why is this happening?

Now we are here at this point in our lives, desperate for a second opinion. Ally and her husband have found a place in Ohio, the George M. and Linda H. Kaufman Center for Heart Failure Treatment & Recovery. This center is everything that Ally needs; they specialize in cases just like hers. Unfortunately, second opinions aren’t covered by her health insurance. Since Ally has had to focus on her health, she’s had to step away from work more and more. Money is tight and bills are piling up, making it impossible to afford this first appointment, let alone the cost of traveling there. So, here I am asking anyone to just help me get her there, get her seen by a team that cares about her, surround her with people who will listen to her when she says something's not right. I’ll take care of the rest. Please send help!

An oath to be my sister’s light,

You have been my everything since day one, my ride or die. Come hell or high water, I am going to get you to this treatment center. You deserve the world and so much more, just like Kayla did. The thought of your heart breaking, and I can’t fix it with laughter, is unbearable, but I’ll be there making you laugh, by your side every day you’ll let me. I’ll stay strong, I promise. I will hold you up like you’ve done for me during my times of darkness. All of us will get through this together as a unit. I’ll always be here for you, and I’ll never stop fighting for you.

Always, I’ll be your light.