Susan’s Story

Site created on March 9, 2023

Welcome to Susan’s CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep Susans family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your kindness, support, words of hope and encouragement.

May 12, 2023
We are still in the Thoracic ICU at Baylor St Luke. Susan has a complication with an injured phrenic nerve from one of her aneurysm repairs. The phrenic nerve controls diaphragm muscles - and lung expansion. At first both sides of Susan’s diaphragm were having difficulty engaging and now 21 days post surgery only the right side is having minimal difficulty. Which means her nerve is healing. There is no timeline for how long this will take though!


April 20, 2023
We are in Houston, Texas for Susan’s Heart surgery!

This Friday will begin her journey to healing! She feels beyond blessed to be here even though it is really scary.

The Doctors and staff here are AMAZING & we are very confident that Susan is exactly where she needs to be! She has a phenomenal team of THE BEST cardiovascular surgeons in the US.

She & I are so grateful for the multitude of ways everyone has shown up for Susan. From care packages, cards, $, hotels or excursion tickets to tickets for zoos or museums!

Blessings to all of you from Susan & I


*** Feb 2023
We have returned from Susans initial consultation with the Texas Heart Institute ! There we learned that Susan has a rare aortal deformity . Because this condition has been undiagnosed for so long it has caused a cascade of other cardiac problems. After consulting with the stellar team at Baylor and the Heart Institute they have developed a detailed surgical plan that will address all these issues and give Susan a higher quality of life and many many more years on this planet! 


*** March 2023
We will be returning to Houston in mid April 2023 to undergo open heart surgery.  At that time she will have a number of complex procedures including a 2 bypasses, 3-4 aneurysm repairs, a valve replacement, a sternum reconstruction, to name a few. Due to the unusual nature of her anatomy / conditions there are only a handful of surgeons capable of performing these procedures… & Susan will have them ALL. Due to her youth and otherwise robust health there is every expectation of a complete and total recovery! 


She’s going to need our help to get there! 

Newest Update

Journal entry by mary dunlap

Susan ate and drank for the first time since April 20th. She had 2 coke slushees, a chocolate cake shake, Portillo Cheese fries and a bit of chocolate layer cake. Glasses full of iced water - sucked through a straw… not on a mouth swab.

We pampered her with a pedicure & foot massage and painted her nails. Massaged her with lotion and gave her a facial. Covered her in a cozy butter soft blanket. We laughed loudly and had serious conversations about fears & possibilities 

She demanded sacrifices. She said she will “fkn haunt the 💩 out ALL of you”. She said she was “going on the greatest adventure there is”! She would make a path for us so we could find our way.

Then at 3:20 - with peace and grace - she was made very comfortable … beginning her journey into the great unknown. 

The universe had again magically manifested for our Friend - this time a Trifecta of magical support combined their energies to create a web of love around ALL of us & together they sang Susan into the beyond knowing - to “the greatest adventure there is” at 5:20 this evening. 

The lights went out in the room as she took her last breath- which 100% verifies that you will ALL be haunted by her … as promised.

May we all be so blessed to know such curiosity, laughter, song, PEACE and pure LOVE during our last moments in this weird impossible world. 

May we all find our own community of friendship and true family in this lifetime. 

May we all strive to be the Light in others lives as Susan was - especially for strangers and outcasts.

She was a rare and beautiful light - full of kindness, empathy & pure Love - in our often cruel world. 

Her memory IS a blessing!

Spending the last 125 days with her have been a tremendous gift. 
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