Hi, friends! My name is Breanna, but you can call me Bree. Many of you know who I am but few know my story in whole. I was born with a congenital heart defect know as Pulmonary Atresia, better knows as the absence of the pulmonary artery, along with other heart and lung defects. I was not believed to live past 2 years of age. Getting that news, I can imagine, can be scary..any bad news pertaning to your heart can be scary. It has been a long journey in and out of hospitials, countless doctors visits, medications, and surgeries. When I was 13 I underwent a "experimental" procedure in which a small ballon was inserted into the capillaries of my heart (where my pulmonary artery should have been) and blown up in hopes to extend and stretch the capillaries for better blood flow to my heart. That day changed my life. When you're diagnosed with such a heavy medical condition, it's normal to start questioning how much faith you have left along the way, but God! With the help of my amazing team and surgeons, I was, what felt like at 13 years old, given a second chance in life. I then proceeded to have permanent metal stints placed in my heart in 2016, and again in 2022. 

 

Although I carry this diagnosis, it is not who I am. I went on to live a healthy and happy life thus far. After my stints, I went on to join the colorguard team at my high school, travel across the U.S, graduate high school in 2018, join and graduate vocational school in 2019, attended trade school and got my CMA license in 2020, and travel some more. Today, I am soon to turn 26 and also in 2020, I married the love of my life.  We have adopted 4 fur-babies, bought a house, sold a house, moved to a new city, and loving every bit of our journey. My diagnosis did not define me. It took me a while to figure out who I was...but who am I? I love musicals, wrestling, traveling with my incredible husband, hosting, hanging out with my amazing friends, and reading, to share a few. It's so easy to loose yourself in your disease, but I'm here today to tell you, that is not who you are. Your identity does not have to lie in what you were labled as or in who/what the doctors say that you are. You are so much more!

 

I say all this to say, this but a part of my story. Thanks to the American Heart Association, trials, like the one I was placed in at 13, is possible. Rasing awareness and funds SAVES LIVES! I am living proof of that. My family and I started walking in 2014, and we will continue walking and rasinig money! I hope that what little bit of my story I've shared encourages you and I urge you to do your own research on American Heart Assoication and read more stories! Thanks to the work of the amazing doctors and reserachers across the Nation, more and more people are getting the treatment and/or answeres they deserve! THIS is why I walk. THIS is why I donate! Will you join me? 

 

Thank you for taking time out of your day to read my story! I would like to thank my amazing Cardiology team at OLOL Childrens, Dr. Michael Crapanzano, Lisa Spillers, and my amazing surgeon, Dr. Victor W. Lucas. 

 

Hope to see you there!