My Story
What began during the summer of 2024 as occasional discomfort slowly became something I couldn’t ignore. I started having difficulty swallowing and shortness of breath—simple, everyday actions that suddenly felt overwhelming. Over the course of several months, I visited multiple doctors and underwent countless tests, searching for answers while trying to continue life as normal.
Eventually, I was diagnosed with an aberrant right subclavian artery, a rare congenital condition in which an artery develops in an abnormal position and compresses the esophagus and airway. While I had been born with this condition, symptoms didn’t appear until later, making the diagnosis especially challenging.
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January 2025 I began a life-changing medical journey that included surgery on my right subclavian artery, a major artery responsible for supplying blood to the arm and brain. My treatment took place at Children’s Hospital of New Orleans, where my world quickly shifted to hospital rooms, recovery milestones, and learning to trust my body again. In that season, my focus was simple: healing one day at a time.
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While I was receiving care, my family stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in New Orleans. During an incredibly challenging and emotional time, that home away from home provided more than just a place to sleep—it offered comfort, stability, and a sense of normalcy when everything else felt overwhelming. Seeing how much that support meant to my family opened my eyes to how deeply medical journeys impact not only patients, but the families who walk beside them.
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That experience planted the seed for Hope in Healing.
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What began as something deeply personal has grown into a mission to support families facing medical challenges, especially those with children in the hospital. Through volunteering, raising awareness, collecting pop tabs, and partnering with organizations like Ronald McDonald House Charities, I strive to bring encouragement, practical support, and hope to families during some of their most difficult moments.
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Hope in Healing is about more than recovery—it’s about turning adversity into advocacy, fear into faith, and challenges into compassion. My goal is to remind families that even in the hardest moments, they are never alone—and that there is always hope in healing.
