Support Emily's Critical Heart Surgery

Some people may know, and some may not know that Emily will be having double open heart surgery on August 13th and 14th. She will be in the hospital for a minimum of 5 days, but most people are in the hospital for seven days. During her stay, she will be in the cardiac ICU (CV ICU), progressive care unit (PCU), and the med surg unit. The surgery is to fix an aberrant artery in her aorta. The artery, which is supposed to be the first artery of her aorta, is in the 3rd spot.

The first surgery is to essentially set up the second day surgeon. The 1st surgeon will go anteriorly on her right clavicle (collar bone) and will be about 4-5hrs. They will also clamp the subclavian artery to her brain during the first day of surgery. One of the risks is a stroke to the left side of her brain. The lymphatic nerves will also be affected. Because of that, they will be putting two chest tubes in to monitor the color of the fluid; if cloudy, she will have to go back into surgery for a third time to fix the leakage. The second day of surgery will be a posterior thoracotomy, which will take about 4-5 hrs. to bypass the artery to the right subclavian artery. This surgery is necessary to prevent an aneurysm in the future.

The aberrant artery is causing extreme pain when she eats and difficulty with breathing, making her short of breath by just talking to people. The artery wraps behind the heart and between her esophagus and spine, causing her food/drink to become constricted, causing food to become stuck in the esophagus. Emily has been dealing with this for as long as she can remember but became severely symptomatic in the last two years, which is uncommon. Most people become symptomatic in their 30s-50s. This surgery was unexpected, and scheduling was done immediately because two highly sought-after surgeons (endovascular surgeon and cardiovascular) must plan the surgeries accordingly to ensure they are done back-to-back. The surgeries must be done on two different days to monitor the lymphatic fluid that runs into the chest tubes and asses that no nerves are damaged.

Due to Emily starting her nursing career in Feb. 2024 and not having a year at Mayo Clinic, they will not be paying her for her leave, which is between 6 and 12 weeks. With that being said, we are asking for donations; anything will help to ease the financial stress. We understand if you are not able to donate, but if you are, we would greatly appreciate it. We also ask for prayers for a successful surgery and a speedy recovery.

Best regards,

Emily's family and friends.