In November 2020, Rosie Coleman experienced trouble breathing and thought she had bronchitis. She visited her primary care physician who diagnosed her with pneumonia and prescribed medications. Days later, when her shortness of breath became more severe, she went to the hospital ER. After multiple tests, a doctor entered her room and asked her if she knew she had congestive heart failure. Rosie’s initial response was “You are in the wrong room”. After Rosie was admitted to the hospital, she contacted her friend who worked with a well-known cardiac surgeon at the hospital. Within two hours, the cardiac surgeon visited Rosie to evaluate her. He explained the option of open-heart surgery and gave Rosie hope for recovery. Rosie’s condition was stabilized, and she was allowed to return home to regain her strength over Thanksgiving.

Prior to surgery, Rosie was eating less and feeling very tired. She had lost almost 250 pounds three years prior and was now underweight. At her heaviest Rosie weighed about 367 pounds. Rosie contacted her prayer partners all over the country and her Bible Study Fellowship classmates. A prayer chain was linked together to pray for Rosie and her medical care team. She thought to herself, “Either I am going to survive this surgery and be healed, or I am going to Heaven to be withGod.”

Rosie returned to the hospital for the scheduled surgery alone due to the COVID-19 restrictions. During the high-risk quadruple bypass surgery, Rosie’s physician also repaired her tricuspid and mitral valves. However, Rosie went into postcardiotomy shock and required temporary support of the Impella® heart pump. After three days of support, Rosie’s heart function recovered and Impella® was removed. She then went into cardiac rehab inpatient for 10 days and returned home in early January.

Today, Rosie has normal heart function. Rosie shares her story everywhere she goes because her heart recovery story is real and hopefully can be an encouragement to others. She has resumed the things that she loves and even wrote a book entitled “Give Me a Chance”, which focuses on teacher-student relationships that are extremely important for students living in poverty. Although Rosie has retired after 40 years in the field of education, she continues to work as an advocate for poverty children, teaching others that if given a chance and a quality education, poverty children can be successful which will change the trajectory of their lives.

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