CLEVELAND — Across the U.S., hospitals have canceled non-emergent or elective surgeries in the midst of coronavirus surges.

“People don’t realize what the pandemic has done to patients that are chronically ill," said Brittney Geerken, 28, who lives with several rare and chronic diseases.

She's had nearly 30 surgeries in the last eight years.

“It’s very taxing in several ways. Especially being a mom,” she said.

When hospital resources are exhausted during the pandemic, surgeries that are deemed elective will be canceled or rescheduled.

“What elective means is you’re not actively dying from it at this moment — you could, in a week or two — then we’ll reconsider we might be able to do your surgery," Geerken said. 

Already in 2022, she's had a surgery canceled, a procedure to ensure her urethra doesn't close. In the coming weeks, she'll have brain surgery to help manage pain.

Geerken explained that when her surgeries get canceled, it not only puts her physically at risk, it's mentally challenging for her and her family.

“You’re prepared for this surgery,” she said. “Finally, you just want to get it over with so you feel better and to have it postponed causes the physical aspect of I’m in more pain for a prolonged period of time.”

She said she hopes her story encourages unvaccinated people to reconsider.

“The people that are in the hospital fighting for their lives are unvaccinated,” she said. “And what that’s doing to people like me who are chronically ill is having their surgeries canceled and it’s causing our quality of life to go down.”

Geerken said she hopes people look at the science and think of the millions of individuals who live with chronic illness.

“I absolutely believe that people should have a choice,” she said. “But I’m just asking them to reconsider.”