Bri
Bri is battling anomalous origin of right coronary artery.
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 an unroofing procedure.
Nine months post-op (August 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. After multiple hospitalizations and being very sick last year, Mayo Clinic advised she needed emergent open-heart surgery. This surge try was done September 18, 2024. Post surgery, she hemorrhaged from the femoral line, had a reaction to the wound vac and all adhesives, 2 of the 4 chest tubes fell out before they were supposed to, and then her incision ruptured open. It has been a very long road!
-Bri, January 2025-