Personal Stories: Keith Hallbourg
Brian,
Hello. I just happened upon your website via a “Google” search. I too survived an acute dissection in 1994 when I was 25 years old.
Long story short, I am still here with a St. Jude valve and a dacron ascending aorta. In addition to some physical limitations and chronic concerns I am fairing well enough not to complain much.
All things considered I could be dead for 10 years plus at this point.
That said, I continue to suffer mentally from the psychological trauma of the entire life changing event.
This mindset has been exacerbated greatly with my brother’s recent sudden death (April 16th, 2004) of an acute aortic dissection, at age 37.
I would likely enjoy, or at least find cathartic, corresponding with you regarding our similar experiences.
If this is of any interest to you please email me at your convenience. Otherwise, best of luck to you.
Cordially, Keith W. Hallbourg
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi,
I had my dissection at 29, I’ve also had a lot of emotional issues dealing with it, I know I should just be happy to be alive, but there’s part of me that just doesn’t feel safe in my own skin. Hope you’re doing well these days.
Hi Keith,
I apprecite you stopping by. I guess we all have something to be thankful for these days! I know this is a tramatic event and if we remain positive and faithful, each day becomes a precious gift for us to enjoy with our loved ones.
Thanks,
Brian
Hey Keith,
I am also a survivor of an aortic dissection, and i also have the St. Judes valve, and the dacron graph. My surgery took place in August of 2008, so I am coming up on my 2 year aniversery. I also have some really hard days with bouts of depression and severe anxiety. Somedays I have little twinges or some unusual pains, and they scare me absolutly to death, but I tend to just talk myself through these, or I call my wife and just get her to talk to me for a few minutes and eventually I calm down. Know I know in my heart that these feelings will never ever go away no mater how hard I try, but I pray everyday and know how thankfull I am to still be alive and it helps out some. The hard part is trying to get family members to understand just how traumatic this is to you, even though they went through it with you, they were not the one on the operating room table with all the tubes and bells and whisltes going off around you. My wife has been an angel through this whole thing but she listens to the doctors too much when they tell me “Oh your doing great Tony, everything looks fine, the valve is great the graph has healed wonderfully…..well thats great to hear, but when do the the thoughts in my head go away…everyday as I said I am thankfull to be alive, but I also wonder everyday is today the day something goes wrong in there and I am no longer around. It’s very hard and I am glad there are people on this site that we can talk to to help us get through this ordeal. Anytime you need someone to talk to just shoot me and e-mail and I will gladly give you a call or you can call me anytime you like, just let me know in and e-mail and I will give you my number. Best of luck to you and I hope you feel better everyday. God bless you.
Tony Penland
Good Evening – I just returned to this site after many years. I am pleased to see a few responses. It is very comforting to hear read) each of you struggling with similar issues. I am at the point in my life 17+ years post acute dissection, where I hardly speak of my demons to anyone. That is not to say they have one away. They are almost always my last thoughts at night and my first thoughts in the morning. But, it is nice to know I am not alone. Tony, reading your thoughts I felt as though I was reading something I had wrote.
Stay strong Brother. Take some solace in the fact we have the same hardware and mine has been working well for many years now.
Kind Regards, Keith