Doug's Posts

On May 8th, I suffered an Aortic Dissection that I had no idea was coming. I am a self employed plumber and was working by myself in a vacant house in Exeter, NH. While waiting for the water department to show up, I got this terrible taste in my mouth, then a pain in my chest. I knew something was wrong , so I took my cell phone from my pocket and called 911. I sat on the deck and waited and the ambulance arrived within a few minutes. I was taken to Exeter Hospital where they diagnosed me and called for an Air Lift to Massachusetts General Hospital. I underwent an 8 hr surgery to repair the aortic valve and repair the dissected ascending aorta. I survived the surgery and Spent three days in intensive care and 9 days in the Cardiac Unit. I was told that only about 2% survive this kind of event, most don't make it to surgery. Is there someone else on this site who has experienced this?