Here is MY story...

[cinda575]

My name is Cinda, I am 29 years old, My husbands name is Jason.

His whole family except for his dad and step-mom lives in Michigan which is where we are from. My whole family lives in Kentucky. Well, the economy as bad as it is , we fell on hard times so we decided to go to Nashville to his dads house, I was at work one day and my lower right side was hurting (down in the pelvic area) so I went to the hospital and they took a CAT scan from my neck to my pelvis thinking it was my appendix wanting to burst, well the ER doctor came in and asked if I have heart problems in my family , I said NO and they told me about this anuerysm that was double the size it should be...6.5 I about hit the floor. I immediately went and told my hubby and being that I didnt have health insurance and TN wouldnt give me any I went to KY to be with my family and the process began...

I went to the University of Louisville ER and told them what I had found out a few weeks earlier and they confirmed it. The hospital in TN told me nothing about it except that John Ritter died of one. I wanted answers to some questions I had and the U of L gave me just that.

 

[cinda575]

the process...

the process...

It was all actually pretty fast. The ER gave me an appt. with the Cardiovascular surgeon and 3 days later I was going for all the pre-testing..Which absolutely sucks.. But, the surgeon I seen was a FELLOW and was under my other surgeon from JEWISH HOSPITAL RUDD HEART AND LUNG CENTER. I met with him ,chose the valve and december 17 was my operation. My surgeons are the best.

Everything went well through the surgery they had to cut off all blood supply to fix the bottom of the aorta so i was clinically dead for 14 minutes. But i came out just fine. Then on the 22nd of dec. All I remember is that i was in ICU asking them not to let me die, My feet were freezing and so were my hands and i could feel it moving up my arms and legs,and I was burning up. Apparently Blood was filling up the sack around my heart really fast, so I had to go into emergency surgery to fix that and got drain tubes. a few days after that I was feeling good but, now they couldnt get my heart rate normal it was 120- 150 bpm. buzzers were going off all the time. had nurses flying in the room to see if i was okay. 3 days b4 release I had a v-tach. my beats got down to 10. They said if i woulda went lower the woulda had to defib me. so I am supposed to be on this med that keeps my rate normal but 2 of my doctors dont think its the med for me. It makes me feel sick and nervous shakes and no appetite. so, I dont know what is going to happen I got out the 2nd of JAN. still in a lot of pain but if i take a vioxx i feel alot better except for the crunching of bones...and that I cant walk to much without my heart racing that sucks...Will it subside with time?

 

[Ross]

Am I correct in assuming this was a abdominal aortic aneurysm?

Your not even a full month out yet. You had major major surgery and your heart isn't liking you too much right now. It's protesting the abuse it's been given. You'll have to wait until it renegotiates a contract with the rest of the body and decides to forgive you before things will start to improve.

In all due time things will straighten out. It's going to take a while though.

 

[Heather Fisher]

Cinda,

Wow, sounds like you had quite an experience. Give it some time. Each day should get a little better. As Ross said, your heart doesn't like being messed with. You were lucky you caught the aneurysm in time! Best of luck in your recovery.

(I'm actually flying to Louisville next Monday to see my son graduate from basic training at Ft. Knox)

Heather

 

[fcarter]

Wow Cindy
I can appreciate not knowing until the last minute and then everything moving really fast. In my case I'm glad that it did. You have been through such an ordeal that your body as well has your mind has a lot of adjusting to d. I hope a pray that everything will work out for you. Just take your time and heal in your own pace. Ask a lot of questions and try to keep on smiling.
Fcarter

 

[Bill Hall]

Cinda - Sounds like you had quite an experience. You might want to e-mail Sandy K (on members list) who has taken medications to stabilize her heart rate. Last year she originated a v-tach posting. In any case, good luck finding the solutions to your problem.

 

[tommy]

Cinda,

Thanks for sharing. Sorry you've had such a rough go of it.

I too had to have my percardium drained. A couple of weeks after surgery I went from accelerating energy to zero. Walking across the room was excrutiating.

When I got to the emergency room, they found my heart was forced way out of place - up near my shoulder. After draining a liter of fluid, I again was on track for recovery.

For several months I had a re-occuring pain that the cardio called "pericardium rub". It took a few months for the sack to re-develop the natural fluids that lubricate the heart inside the sack. Watch for that and be sure to discuss it with your doctor to be sure that's what it is.

Hope that your rythms come back soon.

 

[Karlynn]

Cinda,
Thank you for sharing your story. Your body has been through just about as much stress as a body can handle. Give yourself time to recuperate. Don't set deadlines for how you should feel, let your body tell you.

 

[cinda575]

ross

ross

It was an ascending aortic anuerysm, on top the aorta right on top of the heart, they had no room to work due to the anuerysm being wrapped around the aorta so far...they said it was much larger than the 6.5 they thought it was.

 

[cinda575]

Tennessee didn't know what they were talking about apparently....(referring to john ritter)

 

[Harpoon]

Yeah, sometimes stuff can happen REAL fast....


The worst part is over with though so just try and relax. Take as much time as you can and just be happy to still be here. Make people wait on you. Don't be lazy, but don't feel like you have to do everything for yourself right away.

Ross was right, take time to let your heart and your body heal up. See your doctors as often as they say and stay on your meds, everyhting will come around in due time and while you may not quite be your "old self" you will be better than you are now. =)