Support Domini Plymale's Life-Saving Open-Heart Surgery

First of all, thank you for even visiting this page. It is not lost on me that you're all busy people and that life is so, so hard for many right now. I am very appreciative that you even clicked the link to be here.

Domini Plymale is a young, 30 year old, Christ-follower, mother of 2, wife, daughter, sister, friend, and nurse. She wears many hats every single day. Today, she wears the hat of "patient" as she trades in her scrubs for a surgical gown and surrenders her fate to the Lord and the doctors who will save her life.

Over the last 9 months, Domini noticed an increase in dizzy spells & fainting episodes, previously dismissed by doctors as "pregnancy side effects", mostly surrounding her growing exercise routine and NP school stress. After being dismissed by two different cardiologists, Domini was discouraged that she'd ever have a diagnosis but, praise God, her sister pushed her to pursue a diagnosis and talk to "just one more cardiologist". Praise God. Praise God. Praise God.

So, lately she has been working with a third cardiologist who saw her and said, “I’m not going to ignore it! I will not dismiss you.” He immediately wanted to repeat testing and do a full work-up including multiple EKGs, ECHO, contrast ECHO, tilt table testing, and treadmill stress testing. The tilt and stress testing was positive so they moved forward with a heart CT with contrast. Not only is this cardiologist amazing, he is thorough and quickly moves through the channels checking every box.

She received a call from his office in December telling her she needed to come in urgently the next afternoon, no later and non-negotiable. After consulting 2 radiologists to read the CT, then 2 more cardiologists to discuss results and findings, he brought her to the office.

She has an anomalous right coronary artery. The blood vessel that comes from her aorta to supply the right side of her heart is on the wrong side of her aorta so it has to stretch and cross around to reach the right side of my heart. In doing so, it is being compressed by her aorta and pulmonary artery and hers in particular is angled so sharply that it’s possibly kinking as well. So, when her heart rate or respiratory rate is elevated, she is losing blood supply to the right side of her heart.

This is the second leading cause of sudden death in young athletic teens/adults. The horror stories of the people that collapse on the field or court and die, are nearly always an undiagnosed ACA. This is correctable only with heart surgery of some kind.

On February 14, 2025, Domini will undergo an intensive open-heart surgery to correct this issue. The intensity of the surgery & the recovery is compounded by the fact that she's being seen 2 hours away from her home. We would love to start by praising God that Domini is still with us. Praise God that this doctor listened to her concerns without discharging her or minimizing the severity of this issue. Praise God that Domini isn't another horrifying statistic of a young cardiac arrest leading to premature death which would have left her husband a widower and her children without their mother. Praise God that surgery is even possible to fix this. Praise God that she lives somewhere where she has access to such medical care and provision. Praise God the Plymales have a wonderful community surrounding them to help hold them up in hard times. Praise God that He put Domini in the care of world-renowned surgeons at Cincinnati Children's Hospital - one of the best cardiac surgery hospitals in the United States. Praise God that she knows and loves Jesus and can lay these burdens at His feet.

Now come the burdens, friends. If you know Domini & Rod, you know that they'd never ask for a penny from anyone else. They work extremely hard for everything that they have and they do their best to help others along the way. It is with extraordinary humility that I ask for help on their behalf.

The medical expenses for their family are in the tens of thousands out of pocket. This is then compounded by the 2-hour commute to and from the hospital. There will be days of hotel stays to be near the hospital. There will be at least 1 month of time off of work for both Rod & Dom, longer for Domini. There is the need for childcare for their young 4.5 year old son. There is the added expense of meals and groceries that won't decrease in price just because they're out of work for the foreseeable future. There's also the expense of extensive rehabilitation & physical therapy following this enormous procedure.

If you've made it this far, thank you so much. Domini is my oldest and best friend. We've seen each other through nearly 20 years of life's highs and lows and I am praising God for her life and believing with all that I can that we will see 20 more years of friendship this side of Heaven.

With immense gratitude,

Amanda Rangitsch (Hand)