Hi everyone. My name is Adriana, and at 28 years old, I never expected to need open-heart surgery.

Earlier this year, what initially seemed like a viral illness and acute pericarditis turned into something far more serious. After weeks of worsening symptoms, fevers, chest pain, and multiple medical visits, I was ultimately diagnosed with infective endocarditis, a life-threatening bacterial infection of the heart.

The infection severely damaged my mitral valve and caused severe mitral regurgitation, which is when the valve leaks significantly, causing the blood traveling through that heart valve to flow backwards. Along with severe chest pain, this started to put me into early onset heart failure at just 28 years old.

I was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital, where I underwent open-heart surgery to repair my mitral valve. This infection resulted in a long and difficult hospital stay that lasted a total of 19 days, including time in the ICU, countless tests and imaging studies, and the beginning of a 6-week course of IV antibiotics through a PICC line to fully treat the infection.

As a telemetry nurse myself, I have always been the one caring for others, so experiencing the healthcare system as a patient was incredibly humbling and eye-opening. I am beyond grateful to the incredible doctors, nurses, and staff who helped save my life.

Thankfully, the surgery was successful! I've been home since February 1st, but I still have a long recovery road ahead of me. Unfortunately, I had some complications after I came home where I developed a large pleural effusion (fluid around the lungs) that needed to be drained via a thoracentesis (they drained 1,100 ml of fluid from around my right lung!). I have been managing my IV antibiotics through my PICC line on my own multiple times a day (it's coming out soon - woohoo!). I have a visiting nurse who comes once a week to draw labs and change my PICC dressing. And once I reach post-op week 6, I am going to be starting cardiac rehabilitation.

Unfortunately, the financial impact of this medical emergency has been overwhelming. I have already received an ambulance bill of nearly $6,000 from when they transferred me from one hospital to another, and I am still waiting for many of the bills associated with my 19-day hospitalization, heart surgery, imaging, tests, specialist care, and ongoing treatment to be processed through insurance.

As I focus on recovering and eventually returning to work, these unexpected medical expenses are adding significant stress during an already difficult time.

If you feel moved to help, any support would mean more to me than I can express. Whether through a donation or simply sharing this page, I would be so appreciative. Your kindness and generosity will help relieve the financial burden of this unexpected medical crisis and allow me to focus on healing.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story and for being part of my recovery journey.

With love,

Adriana