My Story - 12 months down the line

It's just coming up for 1 year since my AD and I thought it was about time to tell my story.

After spending the May 2010 bank holiday weekend camping in Somerset, near Cheddar, with my wife, we returned home on May 31st. The next day, Tuesday 1st June, I spent the day at work. What happened next I know only from what my wife, Eve, tells me as I have no recollection of the events.

Later that evening, around 11.30pm, as Eve was getting ready for bed, I was sitting downstairs watching television when something happened that caused me to call out to her. She found me crawling up the stairs on hands and knees complaining of intense pain in chest and back. Apparently I laid down on the bed and told her to call somebody as I felt something was very wrong. She dialled 999 and within 20 minutes an ambulance arrived. The paramedics probably thought I was having a heart attack as they gave me an aspirin and bundled me into the ambulance. I remained conscious and was laughing and joking with the paramedics on the way to the hospital. The journey took only about 10 minutes. At the hospital, following several tests, I was diagnosed as having an Aortic Dissection and was on the operating table by 3.30am. I had a dacron sleeve repair of the ascending aorta. My heart and valve were OK. The operation took about 4 hours after which they found I had no pulse in my right arm and further tests showed there was internal bleeding. So, they opened me up again and after another 4 hours I was back together again. I was in intensive care for about 4 days, none of which I can remember, although I was conscious and chatted with Eve and the nurses throughout. Apparently, whenever Eve came to visit me, I asked her where I was and what I was doing there. As you can imagine, this frightened her a bit. On the Sunday, I was moved to the general ward where I began to become aware of where I was and from that day, my memory began to return to normal. After a further 2 weeks I was allowed home.

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Permalink Reply by Kimberlee Jones on May 31, 2011 at 14:59

So most of the story up to what point is your wife's memory and not yours. I personally even after five years have no recollection from the point where they were cleaning my belly for a emergency c-section all the way until I was in my room on the cardiac floor. I have absolutely no memories of my time in ICU and to this day I don't know how many days it was from when I first came to ER until my first memory. You may wonder why I never asked, this was because I didn't and still don't want to know how many days my baby went without me. Congrats on your one year and here's to many many more.

*hugs*

Kimberlee

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Permalink Reply by Kev A on May 31, 2011 at 15:30

Hi Greg

Another great story/share! - (may sound odd but reading other people's accounts of events etc has really helped me come to terms with my own recent dissection, so thanks for the share)

Sounds like very good work from the hospital all in all. To be diagnosed and on the operating table within 3 and half hours or so, sounds incredible from what I've read on here and comparing that to my case. Sounds like your wife was your rock too, which definitely helps.

Assume 12 months on all is going well?

Take Care

Kev

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Permalink Reply by Gregory Smith on June 1, 2011 at 9:43

I guess I was lucky in that I was taken to Southampton General which is rated as having the 2nd best heart unit in the country. Unfortunately, the childrens heart unit is threatened with closure as the NHS wants to have fewer units each with more doctors doing more operations. That means that if Southampton's childrens unit were to close, they would lose some specialists and their overall rating would be reduced. Without those specialists, I would never have made it...

Any way, 12 months on and all is going well. Weekly gym sessions organised and run by the Wessex Heart Support Group, regular walks and weekly Tai Chi classes, are improving my fitness, reducing my blood pressure and helping me to relax more and sleep better.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Deal on May 31, 2011 at 23:24

as perverse as it sounds i wish i had pictures of me from the week where i was in a coma after the ad. i have piecemeal from my parents about how many machines i was on on each day of that week and what the german doctors and nurses were telling them in broken english - but i somehow need more. my own memories start with some sort of exceedingly uncomfortable colonic "evacuation" during the coma - which no one else remembers, but it still makes me shudder today - and then waking up with a tube down my throat and the driest mouth ever. i remember only trusting one nurse there and she was kind enough to give me a swab of water on the lips the day after (i think) i woke up. then i just "remember" having hallucinatory visits and a god awful stomach for 2 weeks... oh, and playing up one of the ic nurses on night duty by selectively removing electrodes, oxygen tubes and oxygen monitors - why, i'll never know, but i guess i thought it was fun at the time ;)

keep up the march down the road to recovery, and above all take care!

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Permalink Reply by Julia Holley on July 9, 2011 at 16:43

Hi I am Julia and I have just posted my story. I had my AD on 14 May 2010 and came off the ventilator on June 1st. Nice to know I wasnt alone in those dark times. How are you now? I had the same type Type A with Dacron replacement. I am feeling stronger now but theres still loads I cant do.