Donna's Open Heart Surgery
Donation protected
Donna’s Struggles with Heart Surgery
Hi everyone!
My name is Sharon Rudd.
Donna has been my best friend for 45 years. She is the most amazing person I have ever known in my life. I have seen her go through tremendous tragedy and in time, come out on the other side. I have seen her pick herself up and carry on when she didn’t want to. I have seen her put a smile on her face when she didn’t want to. I have seen Donna endure pain and sorrow that no one ever has a right to.
Right now, Donna’s whole life is on hold and has been since February of this year. In wanting to help her in some way, some of us decided to open a “GoFundMe” account for her. Her medical and personal expenses will continue to skyrocket out of control as she makes her way through the steps it takes to make her heart healthy again. We don’t know what that will consist of… it may be a heart transplant. We only know that road is going to be a long one and we want to be there for her every step of the way.
As you continue to read, I’ve tried to put together a story of basically what has happened and what she has been through since February of this year, when she went for surgery. It’s been a series of continuous bumps in the road, serious bumps, and she’s still struggling. She’s been through so many procedures and tests, the majority of which I did not mention.
This is her story.
As you all know, our dear friend Donna has endured many ongoing health issues in recent years. These are mostly related to radiation damage she underwent from Hodgkin's disease at the age of 21. Her attitude has been an inspiration in courage and strength as she has overcome battles with breast and lung cancer and now, most recently, an open heart surgery on March 4th, 2015 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota where her mitral valve and aortic value were replaced, again due to damage from the earlier radiation.
Donna has been aware of the damage done to her heart by the radiation she had years ago. She has known through close monitoring by her cardiologist that she would someday have to have her mitral valve and aortic valve replaced. Her cardiologist informed her that the time had come when she went in for her check up at the end of 2014. Her mitral valve had far more damage than her aortic valve and it was because of this that Donna's cardiologist recommended she go to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Her medical records were sent there where a team of heart specialists went over everything and they determined that they would be able to replace these two heart valves. Surgery was set up for February 24th.
Donna and her very good friend, Brenda Tefren, left on February 21 for Rochester, Minnesota. With Brenda's help and support, Donna was able to get settled in and begin the process of many tests and doctor appointments in preparation for the surgery.
Finally the day of the surgery arrives. Donna is getting checked in and the nurse discovers that she has a fever and therefore the surgery would have to be postponed for a week. It was devastating news!! She had worked very hard getting herself mentally prepared for this heart surgery! Over the next few days, she came down with a slight cold but with Brenda's constant help, monitoring and encouragement, she began to get better.
On March 4th, Donna had a four hour open heart procedure where both valves were replaced. Things went according to plan (or so they thought). She was in the hospital for 8 days following surgery. On March 12th, she was released and she and Brenda flew back of Alaska.
In the couple of weeks that followed, Donna did pretty well. Her sternum was healing as were the stitches and her pain level was improving. But then she started not feeling well. She was out of breath and her heart was racing. She couldn’t walk even a few steps. She called 911 and was ambulanced to Providence Hospital where she was admitted for observation. They could not find anything wrong other than her heart was beating irregularly (AFIB) and they kept her overnight. She was given medication to correct her irregular heartbeat and released. Then once again a week or so later, Donna could not breath and called 911 where she was readmitted to Providence. At that time (after many tests and procedures), they determined that the stitching for the mitral valve did not adhere to the radiated heart tissue. Her blood was pooling in her heart, causing pressure, swelling and immense fluid retention. She was advised that she should go back to the Rochester Mayo Clinic. However, additional complications gave way to a life threatening state; a “hospital" infection, pneumonia and more accumulating fluid.
Unable to make the trip to Rochester, Donna was taken by medivac on April 16th to UW in Washington state where a team of specialists began working to stabilize her condition. They were able to get the infection under control first. Once this was accomplished, they went in through a vein and tried to plug the mitral valve leak, not just once but three times, but were unsuccessful because the heart tissue was too fragile. They finally stopped. The doctors described the tissue as "wet toilet paper". The leak still remains significant. The plan then was to let her heart rest and heal while deciding another plan of action.
She was discharged a week or so later where she remained in the care of her cousins, Raymond and Anni Fuller, in Seattle. The plan was to recuperate and rest up so she could go home to be with her family and pets. Then come back to the UW for more care and treatment when the time came.
Within the second week of being at her cousin’s house, she once again became sick and again was ambulanced to UW. It was determined that she was bleeding internally somewhere around her abdomen area due to the blood thinning medication she is required to be on since her valve replacement surgery. Donna had over 15 blood transfusions and two procedures trying to find the leak. During the second procedure, they were successful in finding it and getting it stopped.
So now that leak is repaired. Donna had been recovering for a few days. Things seem to be going okay. With a nurse by her side, she gets out of bed to take a short walk down the hall. And once she's in the hallway, she completely falls to the floor. She bumped her head so hard they were unsure as to whether or not she had broken her neck. At the time, it was thought that she had had a stroke. Her heart had stopped twice and it took a team 30 minutes to revive her. During the process of CPR, she suffered fractures in her ribs on both sides. She was on full life support for three days.
It was determined that the reason she fell was because her heart had stopped, not that she had a stroke, nor was her neck broken.
That was just two weeks ago (May 16th). Donna has been off life support and breathing on her own now for the last 12 days. She's communicating well, alert for the most part and is able to get out of bed and walk a little bit with help. And she's back to eating real food! I was sent a picture of her out of bed and sitting in a chair right next to her bed. It was the best sight for my eyes to see because we all came very, very close to losing her! She has a beautiful smile on her face, too!!! She is the most amazing woman I know!! Even with everything she has been through, she can still smile!!
Today, June 1, Donna had a pacemaker put in. This will keep her heart from stopping like that again. She came through that procedure fine.
So... here we are. She still has the leakage in her heart which will have to be taken care of as soon as she is well enough. The doctors are still working on how that is going to be done. They have talked to Donna about having a heart transplant. She’s keeping that in the back of her mind, but is hoping they will be able to do something different.
Once Donna gets well enough to travel, she will be coming back home for awhile to be with her family and pets, then she will make the trip back to the UW for further treatment and care.
We are all working to support Donna in any way we can, as we return her gift of friendship. At this point, it is not realistic that Donna will be able to maintain her business (which she attends to after a 40 hour work week) and is inundated with excess medical and personal expenses that will continue to grow throughout her recovery and ongoing treatment. Recent years have been sad and stressful as she is also recovering from the loss of her beloved daughter, Tasha.
We know that so many of you would love to be of service to Donna but are not sure what to do. We have set up a "GoFundMe" account to offer our dear friend, as a gift in her time of need.
For those of you who have given your own time and love, or are unable to help financially, just know that your prayers are the most valuable and strongest gift of all.
I will continue to post frequent updates on Donna's progress.
Thank you all for your support.
Sharon
Hi everyone!
My name is Sharon Rudd.
Donna has been my best friend for 45 years. She is the most amazing person I have ever known in my life. I have seen her go through tremendous tragedy and in time, come out on the other side. I have seen her pick herself up and carry on when she didn’t want to. I have seen her put a smile on her face when she didn’t want to. I have seen Donna endure pain and sorrow that no one ever has a right to.
Right now, Donna’s whole life is on hold and has been since February of this year. In wanting to help her in some way, some of us decided to open a “GoFundMe” account for her. Her medical and personal expenses will continue to skyrocket out of control as she makes her way through the steps it takes to make her heart healthy again. We don’t know what that will consist of… it may be a heart transplant. We only know that road is going to be a long one and we want to be there for her every step of the way.
As you continue to read, I’ve tried to put together a story of basically what has happened and what she has been through since February of this year, when she went for surgery. It’s been a series of continuous bumps in the road, serious bumps, and she’s still struggling. She’s been through so many procedures and tests, the majority of which I did not mention.
This is her story.
As you all know, our dear friend Donna has endured many ongoing health issues in recent years. These are mostly related to radiation damage she underwent from Hodgkin's disease at the age of 21. Her attitude has been an inspiration in courage and strength as she has overcome battles with breast and lung cancer and now, most recently, an open heart surgery on March 4th, 2015 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota where her mitral valve and aortic value were replaced, again due to damage from the earlier radiation.
Donna has been aware of the damage done to her heart by the radiation she had years ago. She has known through close monitoring by her cardiologist that she would someday have to have her mitral valve and aortic valve replaced. Her cardiologist informed her that the time had come when she went in for her check up at the end of 2014. Her mitral valve had far more damage than her aortic valve and it was because of this that Donna's cardiologist recommended she go to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Her medical records were sent there where a team of heart specialists went over everything and they determined that they would be able to replace these two heart valves. Surgery was set up for February 24th.
Donna and her very good friend, Brenda Tefren, left on February 21 for Rochester, Minnesota. With Brenda's help and support, Donna was able to get settled in and begin the process of many tests and doctor appointments in preparation for the surgery.
Finally the day of the surgery arrives. Donna is getting checked in and the nurse discovers that she has a fever and therefore the surgery would have to be postponed for a week. It was devastating news!! She had worked very hard getting herself mentally prepared for this heart surgery! Over the next few days, she came down with a slight cold but with Brenda's constant help, monitoring and encouragement, she began to get better.
On March 4th, Donna had a four hour open heart procedure where both valves were replaced. Things went according to plan (or so they thought). She was in the hospital for 8 days following surgery. On March 12th, she was released and she and Brenda flew back of Alaska.
In the couple of weeks that followed, Donna did pretty well. Her sternum was healing as were the stitches and her pain level was improving. But then she started not feeling well. She was out of breath and her heart was racing. She couldn’t walk even a few steps. She called 911 and was ambulanced to Providence Hospital where she was admitted for observation. They could not find anything wrong other than her heart was beating irregularly (AFIB) and they kept her overnight. She was given medication to correct her irregular heartbeat and released. Then once again a week or so later, Donna could not breath and called 911 where she was readmitted to Providence. At that time (after many tests and procedures), they determined that the stitching for the mitral valve did not adhere to the radiated heart tissue. Her blood was pooling in her heart, causing pressure, swelling and immense fluid retention. She was advised that she should go back to the Rochester Mayo Clinic. However, additional complications gave way to a life threatening state; a “hospital" infection, pneumonia and more accumulating fluid.
Unable to make the trip to Rochester, Donna was taken by medivac on April 16th to UW in Washington state where a team of specialists began working to stabilize her condition. They were able to get the infection under control first. Once this was accomplished, they went in through a vein and tried to plug the mitral valve leak, not just once but three times, but were unsuccessful because the heart tissue was too fragile. They finally stopped. The doctors described the tissue as "wet toilet paper". The leak still remains significant. The plan then was to let her heart rest and heal while deciding another plan of action.
She was discharged a week or so later where she remained in the care of her cousins, Raymond and Anni Fuller, in Seattle. The plan was to recuperate and rest up so she could go home to be with her family and pets. Then come back to the UW for more care and treatment when the time came.
Within the second week of being at her cousin’s house, she once again became sick and again was ambulanced to UW. It was determined that she was bleeding internally somewhere around her abdomen area due to the blood thinning medication she is required to be on since her valve replacement surgery. Donna had over 15 blood transfusions and two procedures trying to find the leak. During the second procedure, they were successful in finding it and getting it stopped.
So now that leak is repaired. Donna had been recovering for a few days. Things seem to be going okay. With a nurse by her side, she gets out of bed to take a short walk down the hall. And once she's in the hallway, she completely falls to the floor. She bumped her head so hard they were unsure as to whether or not she had broken her neck. At the time, it was thought that she had had a stroke. Her heart had stopped twice and it took a team 30 minutes to revive her. During the process of CPR, she suffered fractures in her ribs on both sides. She was on full life support for three days.
It was determined that the reason she fell was because her heart had stopped, not that she had a stroke, nor was her neck broken.
That was just two weeks ago (May 16th). Donna has been off life support and breathing on her own now for the last 12 days. She's communicating well, alert for the most part and is able to get out of bed and walk a little bit with help. And she's back to eating real food! I was sent a picture of her out of bed and sitting in a chair right next to her bed. It was the best sight for my eyes to see because we all came very, very close to losing her! She has a beautiful smile on her face, too!!! She is the most amazing woman I know!! Even with everything she has been through, she can still smile!!
Today, June 1, Donna had a pacemaker put in. This will keep her heart from stopping like that again. She came through that procedure fine.
So... here we are. She still has the leakage in her heart which will have to be taken care of as soon as she is well enough. The doctors are still working on how that is going to be done. They have talked to Donna about having a heart transplant. She’s keeping that in the back of her mind, but is hoping they will be able to do something different.
Once Donna gets well enough to travel, she will be coming back home for awhile to be with her family and pets, then she will make the trip back to the UW for further treatment and care.
We are all working to support Donna in any way we can, as we return her gift of friendship. At this point, it is not realistic that Donna will be able to maintain her business (which she attends to after a 40 hour work week) and is inundated with excess medical and personal expenses that will continue to grow throughout her recovery and ongoing treatment. Recent years have been sad and stressful as she is also recovering from the loss of her beloved daughter, Tasha.
We know that so many of you would love to be of service to Donna but are not sure what to do. We have set up a "GoFundMe" account to offer our dear friend, as a gift in her time of need.
For those of you who have given your own time and love, or are unable to help financially, just know that your prayers are the most valuable and strongest gift of all.
I will continue to post frequent updates on Donna's progress.
Thank you all for your support.
Sharon
Organizer
Sharon Rudd
Organizer
Wasilla, AK