Paula's Profile

I was a 36 yr old and had been having a little bit of high with BP but nothing alarming. I was driving on the freeway when a excruciating pain started and I felt like I would pass out. I was able to get to the side of the road, call for help(thinking it was a heart attack) and then lost consciousness. I was picked up withing minutes and they took an EKG as they took me to the 1st hospital. In sheer agony, no meds could relieve, they decided to take a CT scan where they discovered I was having an Aortic Dissection. Since the hospital didn't have the expertise, they quickly transferred me to a nearby hospital. They rushed me down the hall, put me in a medical induced coma, put me on bypass, and went to work. I had a 15% chance of survival at the time of surgery. My aorta started with an ascending dissecyiin and then split down into a decending Dissection. My Dr was able to repair the ascending section with a graft. Recovery was really tough. Immediately after surgery I began having trouble with my vision. I now lose focus for several minutes at a time. This happens randomly. I am very unsteady and wobbly on my feet. My leg muscles didn't want to cooperate fully until just this past summer. I still have a descending disection that we keep an eye on very regularly. Regulating my BP has been very tricky. I also experienced, what they refer to as "Cardiac Depression and Cardiac pain" the pain has finally subsided, although it still happens occasionally. I receive CT scans, echoes, EKG's and other tests every 6 months, unless there is some kind of concern to do it earlier. I recently (7/28/22) had Gastric surgery (with my Cardiologist permission) and have lost almost 120lbs which I believe has prolonged my life and if course my quality of life also. I still suffer from depression, PTSD and Anxiety. It is hard to not feel as if I'm a ticking time bomb. It's been a really REALLY hard 3 years, but I am a walking miracle and I am so very thankful to be alive! I do have questions about my eyesight and worry that things will get worse. I had 20/40 reading and now cannot read close-up without glasses now. Of course there's so much more story but this is it in a nutshell