Shannon's Life Saving Heart Surgery
Donation protected
Written by Norma Bennett Hudson
My sister Shannon was born with a heart defect known as Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. This causes her heart muscle to become abnormally thick, blocking blood flow from leaving the aorta and greatly decreasing her cardiac output. She needs to have the excessive tissue removed from inside of her heart. Her aortic valve is leaking and needs to be replaced. She has a strange membrane attached to the aortic valve with an unusual flap that covers the top. This was recently found and the cardiologist thinks this is another birth defect not detected in the past. There is no name for this and it has not been seen by many surgeons. All three problems are causing very poor blood flow through her heart. She is having fainting spells,poor oxygen levels, and low energy. She also has severe panic attacks and irregular rhythms that are getting worse.
SHANNON LIFE
Shannon is a 46 year old single mother of two children. She is a very independent young woman who takes pride in being able to take care of her family. She worked hard putting herself through college and eventually earned her bachelor's degree in nursing. This degree helped her obtain her dream job of a nursing home administrator. She had a very good relationship with her employees and was very accessible to her patients. Shannon is a compassionate person who enjoys helping others and making people laugh.
ROUGH YEAR
The past year has been exceptionally hard for her. She started fainting and having panic attacks more often. She developed a fear of driving and being alone due to her symptoms. The wonderful life she worked so hard for began to slip away. Her doctor told her for her safety and the safety of others, she could no longer work and was forced to go out on long term disability. This caused a drastic reduction of income and eventually the loss of her job and benefits. Last Fall, due to unfortunate family circumstances; she accepted temporary custody of two minor children. Even with her reduced income and poor health, she put the children's needs above her own. She hired a contractor to add an addition to accomadate the need for more space. This contractor ended up stealing 17000 dollars and did not do the work. This has been an ongoing stress for her and her home is still not finished.
SURGERY
The abnormal heart rhythms and fainting spells are happening frequently now. She even stopped breathing during her last episode. Her doctor told us she has to have basically 3 surgeries preformed at the same time, if she doesn't, she will die. Due to the complexity of the surgery and the rare conditions she has, he is sending her from SC to the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. They specialize in all types of heart surgeries. She will have a specialized surgical team. She will have to fly to Ohio for an evaluation, then fly back again for the surgery. She will have to return for follow up visits creating very expensive travel cost and childcare cost, etc
SHANNON NEEDS YOUR HELP
I am creating this fund for her because she would never feel comfortable asking people for help. The cost of the surgery, travel expenses, help during recovery period, follow up visits to Ohio, and having someone travel with her, someone to care for children, and normal household expenses, are overwhelming her. She is very depressed!
I WANT MY SISTER TO LIVE AND GET HER LIFE BACK. ANY SUPPORT YOU CAN GIVE, DONATIONS, OR YOUR PRAYERS, WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.
PLEASE SHARE THIS POST TO YOUR FB PAGE. IT WILL BE A TREMENDOUS HELP IN SPREADING THIS MESSAGE.
MAY GOD BLESS YOU!
My sister Shannon was born with a heart defect known as Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. This causes her heart muscle to become abnormally thick, blocking blood flow from leaving the aorta and greatly decreasing her cardiac output. She needs to have the excessive tissue removed from inside of her heart. Her aortic valve is leaking and needs to be replaced. She has a strange membrane attached to the aortic valve with an unusual flap that covers the top. This was recently found and the cardiologist thinks this is another birth defect not detected in the past. There is no name for this and it has not been seen by many surgeons. All three problems are causing very poor blood flow through her heart. She is having fainting spells,poor oxygen levels, and low energy. She also has severe panic attacks and irregular rhythms that are getting worse.
SHANNON LIFE
Shannon is a 46 year old single mother of two children. She is a very independent young woman who takes pride in being able to take care of her family. She worked hard putting herself through college and eventually earned her bachelor's degree in nursing. This degree helped her obtain her dream job of a nursing home administrator. She had a very good relationship with her employees and was very accessible to her patients. Shannon is a compassionate person who enjoys helping others and making people laugh.
ROUGH YEAR
The past year has been exceptionally hard for her. She started fainting and having panic attacks more often. She developed a fear of driving and being alone due to her symptoms. The wonderful life she worked so hard for began to slip away. Her doctor told her for her safety and the safety of others, she could no longer work and was forced to go out on long term disability. This caused a drastic reduction of income and eventually the loss of her job and benefits. Last Fall, due to unfortunate family circumstances; she accepted temporary custody of two minor children. Even with her reduced income and poor health, she put the children's needs above her own. She hired a contractor to add an addition to accomadate the need for more space. This contractor ended up stealing 17000 dollars and did not do the work. This has been an ongoing stress for her and her home is still not finished.
SURGERY
The abnormal heart rhythms and fainting spells are happening frequently now. She even stopped breathing during her last episode. Her doctor told us she has to have basically 3 surgeries preformed at the same time, if she doesn't, she will die. Due to the complexity of the surgery and the rare conditions she has, he is sending her from SC to the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. They specialize in all types of heart surgeries. She will have a specialized surgical team. She will have to fly to Ohio for an evaluation, then fly back again for the surgery. She will have to return for follow up visits creating very expensive travel cost and childcare cost, etc
SHANNON NEEDS YOUR HELP
I am creating this fund for her because she would never feel comfortable asking people for help. The cost of the surgery, travel expenses, help during recovery period, follow up visits to Ohio, and having someone travel with her, someone to care for children, and normal household expenses, are overwhelming her. She is very depressed!
I WANT MY SISTER TO LIVE AND GET HER LIFE BACK. ANY SUPPORT YOU CAN GIVE, DONATIONS, OR YOUR PRAYERS, WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.
PLEASE SHARE THIS POST TO YOUR FB PAGE. IT WILL BE A TREMENDOUS HELP IN SPREADING THIS MESSAGE.
MAY GOD BLESS YOU!
Organizer
Rhonda Watts
Organizer
Darlington, SC
