Haileys Heart

Hey everyone, I am writing this behalf of Hailey Gibson. On Sunday September 4, 2022 Hailey was admitted to the hospital after feeling like something was wrong with her heart. She indeed was right, she was diagnosed with a very uncommon heart condition. The condition is called complete av block or Third-Degree Atrioventricular Block and is very rare to develop, 1 in every 20,000-25,000 babies are born with it. Haileys case is even more rare than that as she was not born with it, she developed it at 19 years old with the previous youngest person to develop this condition as an adult being 31. They aren’t sure what has caused her to develop this or any adult who has developed it for that matter. An atrioventricular block is a loss of the regular function of the cardiac electroconductive pathways linking the sinoatrial node (SA node) and the ventricles via conduction through the atrioventricular node (AV node). Third-degree AV block indicates a complete loss of communication between the atria and the ventricles. Without appropriate conduction through the AV node, the SA node cannot act to control the heart rate, and cardiac output can diminish secondary to loss of coordination of the atria and the ventricles. The condition can be fatal if not promptly treated. Most patients will initially require temporary pacing, followed by a permanent pacemaker.

With her condition and the surgery being so rare, Hailey will be going through an extensive procedure to have a pacemaker put in on September 19th, 2022. This is not a common procedure on someone her age, but given the circumstances this is currently the only option. They have currently sent her home with a monitor linked with the doctor, anytime her heart rate drops to a certain point they contact her to get to the hospital.

During this time Hailey is unable to work and at this point we are unsure when she will be able to return to work. And though Hailey has insurance that will cover some of the medical cost it will not cover it all. Not to mention she will have rent amongst other living expenses. At this time we are thinking she will need around $17,000 to support herself between living and medical expenses. With this being so unexpected and so rare we don’t really know what the future holds. We appreciate any help toward this goal, as well as prayers, and support to the family during this time.