Janet and her heart of hearts (Liz Verdin’s mom)

From Liz: In June 2014, my mom had an aortic aneurysm removed by open heart surgery. During the procedure, she went into cardiac arrest a number of times, and sustained tremendous injuries due to the strain that was put on her heart and body. She was in ICU for 27 days as she fought the odds that were given to her. Despite being without oxygen for as much as 10 minutes, she sustained minimal, if any, brain damage. She was eventually able to come home, which was something we were not certain would happen.

While the majority of her body had healed itself, she was left with right-sided heart failure, and later developed a condition known as tricuspid regurgitation. In February 2020, we were fortunate enough to learn she was accepted into a clinical trial that would entail placing clips on her tricuspid valve to limit the amount of regurgitation occuring. After months battling with insurance, writing checks, and dealing with the emotional turmoil of having this surgery dangled in front of us for months, never knowing if she would receive it, we finally got the approval we needed (she broke the glass ceiling of getting this surgery approved). The surgery was a success, but it did not heal her completely. Her ride-sided heart failure persisted, and she was on major diuretics to help expel some of the fluid that was built up. She was able to regain some of the function she has lost in terms of stamina, and for the first time in years felt better.

On August 13, 2022, I found her unconscious in her bed. Within minutes and the help of my neighbors, we began CPR. EMT personnel took over, and it took them 45 minutes to get her stable enough to be transported to West Hills Hospital, where we were informed that her prognosis was not good. That day, they told me that I would have to decide if I wanted them to keep trying to resuscitate her as she went in and out of cardiac arrest, and gave me a 20% statistic of her making it out of this alive.

She beat those odds. She is alive. She is fighting. Cedars Sinai medical team has been caring for her for the past few days and she has progressed in ways that has us all flabbergasted.

There is a long way to go, but we are so thrilled to be having conversations about her progression and next steps instead of the ones we were having on August 13. God has truly blessed us, and our friends and family have shown us so much love.