WHAT HAPPENED TO ME? Aortic dissection is a life-threatening condition. Only about 20% survive the surgery if they can get to surgery in time, within that first “golden hour”, as it is called. After studying results from last Monday’s echo-cardiograph the doctor told me Tuesday (16th) that both my two Aortic dissections, type A and Type B, were caused by Aortic Aneurysms that had progressed over time at 1% progression. However my Aorta system is not atherosclerosis, meaning hardened, as in “hardening of the arteries“. The recent dissection Type B occurred when it dilated at one of the three layers, then dissected due to a high blood pressure spike, where the blood moved in between the first inner layer and the second layer like a double barrow shotgun. So last Sunday and Monday nights when the two spikes went to the 250ish mark I was very close to not writing this post -because it could have dissected all the way through at those levels. Those top numbers were a correct reading.. when I was admitted the reading was even higher, at 268 over something. I am thankful to be alive. God hears the prayers of the humble, and I thank each of you for your prayers. The key point in prevention of aortic dissection is dealing with high blood pressure. Minimizing this and other risk factors for atherosclerosis significantly reduces the risk of developing an aortic dissection. What are the symptoms of aortic dissection? Pain is the leading symptom of aortic dissection. You will generally have a sudden onset of pain at the moment of dissection. The pain is usually described as ripping or tearing and as the worst pain ever experienced. It is usually in between the shoulders on the back and might radiate to the arms or the neck. Less frequently, the pain can be felt as chest pain. The pain is very difficult to distinguish from that of angina or a heart attack. Other symptoms may include: Numbness and the inability to move the legs. Lack of pulse. Swelling. Pale skin. If you experience these symptoms, you should call 911 or other emergency services immediately. Do not drive yourself -as I did on the first dissection- as time is important and stress and movement should be reduced to a minimum. Do not try to take pain medication or heart medication. Taking aspirin with aortic dissections has had fatal consequences. If you have an aortic dissection, you may need: Blood tests. These tests can give your doctor clues about what is causing your symptoms. A chest X-ray. An angiogram. This test can help determine the size of your dissection and if you have blood clots or other blood vessel involvement. Computed tomography scanning (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) helps your doctor know if your dissection is growing. A trans-thoracic echo-cardiography and trans-esophageal echo-cardiography (TEE) lets your doctor look at blood vessels inside your chest. Such intravascular ultrasounds get a better look at your blood vessels. I watched my own heart beating last Monday. The doctor later said it was beating right, and was good. How is aortic dissection treated? The treatment of aortic dissection depends in part on where the dissection is located: Dissections involving the aorta where it goes up from the heart (with or without the arch) are known as type A dissections and are generally surgically treated. This was the type of my first Aorta dissection. Dissections involving the rest of the aorta are known as type B dissections. That was the type they discovered in me last Wednesday on 9-11. It wasn’t a good day for me. I was going to be a UAMS/SCHMIEDING Certified PCA that morning, working towards becoming a Medical Technician which holds the same status as a CNA or a Medical Tech. Now, they are saying I may not be ALLOWED to complete or try to complete the scholarship program I was given. Presently I am NOT happy about that and I will be seeking a doctor’s statement to either show I am able or not able to continue such work efforts. I was to graduate with honors at the top of my class, having made the highest grade on the final exam, and holding the highest overall GPA of 97%. Instead I have been seven days confined to a hospital with complications of a type B dissection - generally treated with medicines but the meds weren’t taking their effects until YOU dear friends began a chain of prayer -which I am so grateful unto God and for you. Traditionally, the first line of treatment for type A dissections (dissection of the aorta involving the ascending aorta) is surgery, which happened to me December 6, 2003. The goal of the operation is to prevent death due to bleeding and to reestablish blood flow into the extremities and inner organs (if branches of the aorta are involved in the dissection process). In this 8 hour open-heart procedure, my chest was opened, sawed in half, and the surgeon removed the part of the aorta where the tear was found. The portion of the aorta removed was replaced with a synthetic material, such as a Dacron tube graft. It was sewn on with surgical thread that is only good for 15 years. It has held up for 10 years now. Another approach uses a similar graft that is placed inside the aorta; in this approach the ascending aorta is not replaced but internally reinforced. With the Type A Aorta survival most do not live long thereafter. I went through 13 months of compounded chronic pains before I even had a sense of any normality of life, or any quality of life. It was the hardest trial I ever faced -even harder than when I had been shot multiple times. That was easy compared to this - for it’s intensity of pains and for it’s longevity and complications. The Type A Aorta survival took more than twice as long to recover from. Possible complications of aortic dissection and its surgery include: Paralysis. Kidney (renal) failure (Which happen with me). Infections in the lung and lung failure. Decreased heart function and heart attack (Which happened with me). It is sometimes not possible to use surgery in type A dissections. In this case, you die (Which DIDN’T happen with me). In my case I suffered right Kidney failure; infection in the urinal tract, decreased heart function where the circulation isn’t the same as it was before surgery, and I’ve had what seemed to be heart attacks, or at least three major times of serious chest pains. Type B dissections are usually treated with medicines. In rare cases, a procedure or surgery may be necessary if: Your aorta has ruptured. You have pain or high blood pressure that cannot be controlled. You have a lot of bleeding. Other arteries or organs are damaged. In my case the Type B dissection length is from my breastbone to past my belly button. There is no surgery that can be done -it has to be treated with medicines. When I kept having pain, day in and day out, with extremely high rising blood pressure that could not be controlled …. your prayers of faith, with supportive comments and concerns were such a comfort. “Love one another as I have loved you”, Jesus said. And you were there for me friends. Such dissections are possible to heal. Jesus is our Lord and healer; our everything who bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes we were healed. You can’t threaten a Christian with heaven! However, facing death when it unexpectedly comes is never easy in the sense that you think of all those things you never got around to doing; and how such things left undone will affect your immediate loved ones. This is just FYI… Note: for any who do not believe in medicines, (or doctors) I am not trusting in “man”, my trust is in the Lord or I wouldn’t be here now. So until you have had TWO Aorta dissections AND LIVED to tell about it, please refrain from preaching to me the “politically correct” ways of faith. I needed and still need friends’ faith support -- not preachy strangers posing as “friends” on my list. Thanks.
Posted on: Sat, 21 Sep 2013 05:04:41 +0000
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