Rally for Jolene: Overcome Heart Crisis

Jolene Brandenburg arrived at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, on Friday, January 24th, early in the morning, expecting to undergo a triple bypass surgery. What should have been a major surgery with a great outcome quickly turned into an emergency when she experienced a heart attack on the operating table. The Drs attempted to use medication to revive her heart but ended up needing to do manual palpitations to stop the heart attack. Due to weakened tissue, this internal CPR caused a tear on the lower right side of her heart. Seeing how emergent the situation was, the surgeon stopped the surgery and worked to stabilize her and repair the tear. Because of the severity of the situation, the surgeon opted to do a temporary closure of her chest cavity and place her on life support as well as a ventilator.

Saturday, the 25th, Jolene went in for three different procedures. The first was to place stents in her coronary arteries, the second was to remove blood clots from her left leg, and the third was to bleed off excess air that was leaking into the pleural space of her chest as a result of air being pushed out through her lung by the ventilator. Sunday, the 26th, was a rest day where she survived on life support. On Monday, the 27th, she was able to be taken off of the heart portion life support machine, and her heart successfully took over sustaining her life. On Tuesday, the 28th, she had yet another procedure to close her chest cavity so she can begin her healing journey. She remains on the ventilator with hopes to reduce sedation and begin weaning from that within the next 24-48 hours.

Due to an anticipation of a very long recovery, Jolene, who has always been a very hard worker, will likely not be able to continue to work to provide income for her to survive. Anything that can be provided will greatly help Jolene make ends meet as she endures her long journey back to health.