Brian, here’s my story
May 1st (2006) started out great! I was on a golfing mini vacation @ Lake Geneva in Wisconsin (we live in Loves Park, IL). It was me and seven golf buddies playing the golf course called “The Brute”! We were having a great time although looking back I did feel a little weak that day. I thought it was from having one too many brewskies the night before. I’ll never forget what happened on the 17th hole. As I took a drink from my diet soft drink I felt a tearing feeling in my throat. I thought it was just one of those times you get too much air in your throat with the soda. But this was far more painful. The pain started at my throat and went to my stomach and looking back this probably the start of the tear.
I felt really weak and thought I may pass out. I sat down on the golf cart for a couple minutes and seemed to regain my strength. I went back to my ball and whacked it a couple more times to get it on the green. When I arrived at the green I felt this major whooshing feeling that started from my stomach area and ended at my toes. It was like a heat wave starting from top to bottom. One of my buddies looked at me and said “are you sure you’re alright?” I must have looked very pale. I said sure it’s nothing. When we got to the 18th tee, I felt OK, like my old self, no problem. We finished the round, went back to the room and got our suitcases and proceeded to drive home.
About half the way home the pain returned. It felt like a bad stomach ache. In my mind I still did not think it was anything more than a case of stomache flu. By the time I got home it was really getting painful. I took a couple pepsid’s and tried to lay down. When I couldn’t lay down or sit down I knew it was time to get to the hospital. My wife swung by from work and took me to emergency room. From home to the ER St. Anthony’s Hospital in Rockford, IL was brutal. Arrived at the ER a short time later but seemed like it took hours.
The pain was the worst I’ve ever experienced. I thought I was having a heart attack. The pain was a 10 out of 10. It felt as if someone had ripped my chest open and was pouring salt in the wound. When I was nearing passing out they finally gave me some pain meds. Long story short they did an excellent job diagnosing the problem.
The next think I remember I’m on my way, in an ambulance, up to Univ of Wisc @ Madison where there is an excellent DR for this sort of thing. Dr. Charles Acher and his staff did an excellent job of treating my catastrophe. Five days in Intensive care was followed by six days in a regular room. I was lucky, I didn’t need surgery for my Type B Descending Aortic Dissection. It’s being treated with Meds and like many others on this site, I’m tired much of the time. I don’t get the physical activity I’d like because I feel lazy a lot of the time. But considering the alternative, I’ll deal with it.
As a side note, in 2003 my younger brother (I’m 48 and he’s 44) had the same thing happen only his was a lot worse and required major surgery (again @ UW Madison). That’s how we knew about Dr. Acher. We’ve been told that this is a heriditary condition and neither one of us has ever had high blood pressure nor Marfan’s Syndrome.
September 21st 2009: Bad News, I had to have thorasic Dacron Graft surgery. My surgeon had been watching the size of the injured area and when it got over 6 MM it was time for surgery. My doctor let me wait until after my daughters wedding so I could walk her down the aisle. with a one in 19 chance of paralysis this was very important to me. The night before the surgery was all about prep work at the hospital. UW Madison is a great hospital and every room is a private room. That’s pretty nice if you’re going to be there for a while.
The surgery was just over 7 hours and I was in the Operating Room for 9 hours (they tell me). The surgery went well. The only thing I really remember is being in intensive care when they woke me up the next day (with a ventilator – not good) to find out if I had full function and feeling in my legs. I remember praying to God to let me have my legs back. When they asked me to raise my legs they worked. Thank God for that.
My wife said I raised them way up and was very happy with the results. I then began to motion for them to remove the breathing apparatus. That took another day to remove. The good thing is they give you stuff so you don’t remember too much of anything. Long story short, I thank God for every day. I’m still in recovery mode but getting stronger every day. I’m back bowling again and can’t wait to get back out on the golf course this summer. Thanks for reading this and I pray for each and every one of you people on a regular basis.
Thanks for stopping by to view our stories. Please help me keep the site going by shopping at Amazon.com-It’s very much appreciated. Brian Tinsley founder of AorticDissection.com (please book mark the link once you get to Amazon.com for future purchases!)
God Bless. Jerry
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