Support Bri’s 2nd open heart surgery ♥️
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On November 22, 2022, Bri had open heart surgery for a congenital heart defect. We just found out about this at 21 years old. This heart defect is called an anomalous origin of the right coronary artery. The University of Minnesota performed this open heart surgery, called a unroofing procedure.
Nine months post-op (August of 2023), she got very sick with pneumonia that collapsed both lungs (pleural effusion), which then spread to her heart. This caused pericarditis (infection around the heart) and a pericardial effusion (fluid around her heart). In the last 12 months, she has dealt with 8 different kinds of steroids, 6 of them long term, 5 antibiotics, steroid shots, steroid tapers, 13 other medications to keep her heart and other organs healthy, at least 10+ ER visits, multiple hospital admissions, 3 cardiac MRIs, 7 heart/lung CT scans, hundreds of blood draws, 5 pericardial effusions, 3 collapsed lungs, and pericarditis the whole 12 months.
She now deals with heart failure, ventricular tachycardia, a congenital heart defect, constriction and thickening of the pericardium. This has now done permanent damage to her heart. Bri will be needing her 2nd open heart surgery to completely remove the pericardium (the sac around the heart). This surgery is called a pericardiectomy. This surgery will be done at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. This is the only option at this point. We met with the surgeons and we go up Sunday, September 15 for 2 days of testing, a heart cath on Tuesday Sept 17, and the open heart surgery Wednesday September 18. They said her heart is swollen and inflamed which is why she is in so much pain.
I’m creating this to help Bri as she will be out of work for quite some time again, to help with bills and other expenses. We will have caring bridge updates as well. Thank you everyone♥️
Caring Bridge Link -
#BriStrong♥️
Organizer
Lindsay Thooft
Organizer
Tea, SD