TYLER, Texas — An East Texas ICU nurse is recovering from heart surgery this week at the same hospital he’s been practicing for nearly 10 years.
"A month ago I was on vacation in Oklahoma and my heart went into an irregular rhythm called Afib with RVR, and I was treated at a local ER there," Brandon Gill, a registered nurse at UT Health, said.
For 32 years, Gill says that as far as he knew, he was completely healthy. He’s a runner – and he said whenever he felt any sort of discomfort in his chest, he just chalked it up to dehydration or stress.
However, after a trip to the emergency room and then a prompt follow-up with a cardiologist, Gill learned he was born with a bicuspid aortic valve.
It means his heart needs to work harder to pump blood to his body than most, and that he would need an aortic valve replacement.
"When I first found out I just kind of felt kind of alone, isolated and you just don’t feel like people can understand, I guess," Gill said.
It was his friends and colleagues at UT Health that kept his spirits up when things were looking bleak.
"They made me feel so incredibly good that I felt confident going into it after speaking with them, and hearing the kind words they had to say about me," Gill said.
They did a bit more for Gill than just give him some kind and encouraging words. They launched a GoFundMe to help him pay for surgery and his recovery process. It was an amazing and overwhelming gesture that’s already raised nearly eight thousand dollars.
"To have them just show it in this way has been incredibly overwhelming, and like I said it's just beautiful to see that everyone loves him the way I love him too," Gill's wife Amanda said.
Thomas Miller, clinical manager for the medical and surgical ICU, added it's not common to come around people who are so kind to each other.
"I’ve got a lot of love in my heart for Brandon and the entire team," Miller said.
Gill has been working as a registered nurse for about 10 years now and by all accounts he’s very good at his job, but he said seeing things from the patient’s point of view is going to make him an even better nurse going forward.
"I’m in the same spot that, I don’t know how many people have sat in this seat, but I mean I’ve taken care of I bet thousands and thousands of patients," Gill said. "My nursing career will be better than it (has) ever been due to this process. And I’ll be able to communicate with the patients a lot better for that."
Now, recovery begins. Gill hopes to be released from the hospital within the next few days when he’ll then get started with physical therapy.
But he wouldn’t be here today though without his friends, family, and ... "my work family, I love you," Gill said.
Gill's GoFundMe can be reached here.