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| Why Do I Share This? My aneurysm was right where the aorta comes out of the heart and touches the right atrium (upper chamber). I was very lucky that it was found very quickly after and repaired. The reason I am telling this story is to hopefully encourage folks to pay attention to their bodies... truly a case of an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure. I had about 20 pounds of cure, but it sure beats being 6 feet under. | ||
| What causes it? From the research I was able to do after the fact, Sinus of Valsalva Aneurysm is thought to be a malformation that happens during the formation of the fetus in utero. | ||
| What happens in the heart? This aneurysm shunts too much blood back through the heart and lungs, which ends up weakening the heart and flooding the lungs with too much fluid, which leads to pulmonary hypertension and eventually death. | ||
| Who gets it? This aneurysm doesn't appear to be hereditary, although it does appear in certain populations more than others. It is more prevalent in Asians and males. It also tends to strike in the 20s & 30s. Most of the studies are from Japan & China, which points to its higher occurence there. 80% of victims are male... so for me, a white American woman to have this defect is quite rare. | ||
| How many people? From a rough guestimate from my doctor and the research I have done, my husband and I figure it's about a 1 in 5000 occurrence across the board, maybe 1 in 6000. | ||
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| My Own Story I woke up on June 1st 2001 with it looking to be a normal sort of day... my daughter was finishing up her next to last week of school, so that meant I had a quiet day with my 5 year old son. The biggest decision of the day would be whether to be whether to do housework or not. So I blundered into my office and booted up the computer and went through my usual routine. At about 9:45, I was surfing the net and all of a sudden my heart started pounding fast, like I'd been running a sprint. I'd had bouts of racing heart from time to time in the past and laying down & resting had always taken care of it. So I told Alan that I was going to take a nap. I slept for 90 minutes and woke up with no slowing of heart rate. I just had a feeling that something was wrong. I called my husband and told him how I was feeling. He was instantly worried, as I was. Then I called my insurance company's nurse help line and was advised to get to my doctor ASAP. I got a 1 p.m. appointment and did my best to rest until we could leave. I even put 911 on a sticker on the phone and told my son to call that if he found me fallen down or unable to rouse me. I got to my doctor's appointment and she tried some things to try and slow my heart rate, but nothing worked. She listened to my heart and found a murmur that had NEVER been there before... and I'd been through 2 military entrance physicals in the past. She let me listen to the sound and I could hear it clearly with totally untrained ears. It was a VERY loud whooshing sound that was unmistakably WRONG. She asked me which emergency room I was going to so she could call ahead. During all these hours, I had begun to feel a little woozy and short of breath as well. I got to the hospital, driven by my husband, and they put me into a room immediately. They ran ECGs, chest x-rays, CAT scans and numerous other tests. All they managed to find was a small pulmonary embolism, which was enough to admit me to the hospital... but they couldn't find anything else. The doctor who took care of me in the ER, Dr. Murphy, later told me that my case is the one that she always goes back to in her mind when she has a bad feeling but has no empirical evidence for anything drastic. She almost didn't admit me that day, but it's lucky that she did. At first I was put in a regular room, right next door to my cousin strangely enough (he was down in the back). The pulmonologist came up to listen to my lungs and heart late in the evening... and he listened and listened and listened. I could tell he was hearing something that didn't add up to him, I now assume it had something to do with the brand new murmur in my heart. He told me that he was going to get a cardiologist to come and see me. Dr. Elliot came in at about 9:30 or 10:00 pm and listened and listened and listened... he left for awhile and returned, telling me he wanted to take me for an echocardiogram, "wanting to make sure we both slept better that night." Mind you, this was a Friday night. So, he found a wheelchair and took me down to the echo lab himself without waiting for transport. He did the ultrasound on my heart, over and over and over. I thought the ultrasound made noises like big muddy feet schogging through a swamp... but what he found troubled him enough to switch me to Medical ICU. I spent several days in the MICU and had tons more tests done, including venous studies of my legs to look for clots, a transesophageal echocardiogram (very nasty test), and a cardiac catheterization. What they found was the burst aneurysm between my aorta and right atrium. It was causing the pressures in my lungs to be dangerously high. Luckily, I was healthy and my condition stable, so I was transferred to the cardiac step-down floor to await surgery day, the Thursday after I'd been admitted. My surgeon spent lots of time to explain things to me and answer my questions, making Dr. Mellitt one of the best & kindest doctors I have ever met. On Thursday morning I was wheeled into surgery with music I'd chosen playing. I remember very little after that until they slowly started bringing me out of anesthesia. The worst was when they cleaned my ventilator tube, it felt like I was being suffocated. The pain was also horrible. I finally began getting mostly coherent on Friday the 8th of June. Sometime on that day, I was moved out of the Surgical ICU after being taken off the vent. I have vague memories of my roommate needing many things... about every 15 minutes and got no sleep. I requested a private room, just so I could rest... I was moved on Saturday morning. Luckily, my recovery was nearly perfect. I was up and out of bed on Friday. The chest tube came out on Saturday morning before I was moved. I even had a regular diet by Saturday, though I barely ate. Lettuce and V8 juice were about all I could eat. On Sunday morning, Dr. Mellitt came into my room for this usual rounds. I asked when I might be able to go home... he didn't really answer, but continued talking into his tape recorder... "patient expresses desire to go home"... he then looks sidelong at me and said "how 'bout today". So I called my husband's cell phone and told him I could come home. Talk about elated... after 10 days in the hospital, I was able to go home to my husband and children, whom I was at times not sure would live to see grow up. The story is still incredibly emotional for me. To face death so closely and overcome changes you deeply as a person. I am grateful every day for simply being alive. Seeing my kids is a gift every time. Their hugs are warmer and tighter. My husband, my rock, is my strength. So many people from around the world prayed for me in numerous faiths, Christian, Pagan, Buddhist, etc. and I know that aided in my swift complete recovery. I had 5 things that I was pushing onward for: Mark, Madie, Alan, home, nursing school. I could never thank my doctors and nurses enough for the amazing care that received. I can never thank all those who prayed/sent good thoughts, etc. either. It was an amazing time in my life... not the most pleasant, but it assured me of all good things. I am now a nursing student entering my last semester at MU. I was able to hold onto all the things I wanted... and I am excelling. Thank You & Blessed Be! |
Heart images and information borrowed from: Cardio-Throracic Surgery Notes.
All other Content (c) 2002, Jennifer L. Schmidt.
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