Gina thought she had atleast 6 months to a year to prepare for open heart surgery, after a visit to the ER for tightness in her chest she learned she wouldn't be leaving and will be having surgery within the week.
Gina was born with Congenital Valvular Aortic Stenosis. A normal aortic valve has 3 flaps(tricuspid) while Gina has only 2 (bicuspid). This causes the Aorta to work extra hard to pump blood out to the body. In her 24 young years her Aorta has been pushed to the limit, it is now 5 cm diameter compared to a normal size of 2.2-2.5 cm and it is so stenotic (tight) that the inside is essentially a pin hole.
She will be undergoing open heart surgery within a couple days to replace the Aorta as well as the Aortic Valve connecting it to the heart. Luckily she is young and will hopefully be okay healing from what they call the 'Ross Procedure'. Essentially switching one Artery for another and replacing the valve.
Doctors believe this is the best option however it takes her from a single heart disease to double heart disease patient once another artery is affected.
Dental work is also required before surgery to prevent infection from spreading to her heart after surgergy and as she just turned 24 she is no longer covered by insurance.
Once the operation is finished, doctors say the recovery period is about 6 months and the medication needed to help this process is not all covered by OHIP.
Gina is in good spirits and hoping to be healthy again soon!
Any contributions would be very much appreciated. There are costs she was not prepared for and any contributions would really help during this difficult time.