Local High School Student Lives Normal Life After Heart Surgery

— Mya Johnson, Reporter

Sophomore Allison Unrath was 12 years old when she, along with her family found out she had a large hole in her heart.

“I didn’t really know what it was at first,” Allison said.

The hole had been present since birth. Allison’s parents decided on open heart surgery for their daughter as their best option. Now Allison lives a normal life as any other teenager would, she goes to school at Mandan High School and dances for the Varsity Mandan Dance Team.

According to the article, Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) found on Mayoclinic.org, is a hole in the wall that divides the upper chambers of the heart. A large hole in the right atrium causes extra blood to fill the lungs and overwork the right side of the heart. Allison had this large hole and doctors were surprised she was not able to feel any side effects.

“I didn’t think much of it until the day before surgery,” Allison said. “It didn’t feel real.”

Allison got a test done on her heart called an echocardiogram and her mother, Beverley, got the call the next day and was told that Allison has a large hole in her heart.

“I had to take her to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota,” said Beverley Unrath. “I researched a lot to find the best pediatric heart surgeon for Alli.”

Dr. Joseph Dearani did the surgery on Allison at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Dr. Dearani is a thoracic surgeon with over 26 years of experience. He is the cardiac surgery chair at Mayo clinic. His specialties include thoracic surgery, and adult and pediatric cardiovascular surgery.

Allison’s father, Monte Unrath, was shocked when he found out about Allison’s heart condition. He was worried for her before and after the surgery, and during recovery.

“I started to appreciate life a little bit more,” said Monte

Beverley and Monte did all that they could to help Allison and get the surgery she needed to fix the hole. Allison’s friends and family were always supportive in the best ways they could.

“My sister Jamie was a nurse,” said Beverley. “So she helped me understand that lots of things with the heart are fixable.”

Allison’s parents were very busy leading up to her surgery in Minnesota.

“We always took care of her and getting her to doctor visits and planning,” said Monte.

According to her parents, the hole was about the size of a quarter at the time.

“There was no immediate threat,” Monte said. “But as she got older it would have resulted in health complications.”

Allison had the surgery in the summer of 2019 and missed out on some of her favorite things due to her recovery from the surgery.

“That was my first year joining dance so I had to miss all of the summer practices.” Allison said, “I also couldn’t go swimming the whole summer.”

Allison continues to live a normal life now after recovering from the surgery, doing her favorite things with her family and friends like traveling, swimming, snowboarding and spending quality time with her loved ones.

“I have a scar now,” Allison said. “At least I have a funny story to tell people now.”