Life by a thread

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On the 8th of October 2009 sometime around Midnight something Happened to me That threatened My life and well being, and Changed my Life forever.... To begin I can tell you I have a fine Long term memory, growing up and all my freinds (some of my teachers etc and Life between a year or so to age 51 is more then likely as good as My peers sometimes even better,. ON the 8th "somethings" happened... I have no recollection of , nor specifics of The day Prior to the Incident , WHat I do know Is, Waking gradually and becoming aware of the 2 Cardiac Nurses in the recovery room with me, as I became alert I realized I was staring into the face of a Former Co worker someone I really would not necessarily trust In "other situations" but who was a pretty good Paramedic in his time As I fully woke Up he was there his face Near (too Near for my liking) and he is LIKE hey partner, you Have had a ruff night.... Having Just had the tubes removed MY throat was bad I couldn't speak but I gave a LOOK that was enough That One of the nurses sort of jumped Back not really sure if I'd Damaged Brain cells or what ( being on heart lung bypass) lol He told them RIGHT away I was fine and They looked at him like he was nuts...haha. They Asked questions and filled in answers for me as best they could as to the how why what wheres.... They explained I had OHS for a Ascending Aortic Aneurysm which quickly became a Emergent Thoracic Aortic Dissection with Full Tampinaud.... And I'd been Very close to death ... Ultimately The Cardio-Thoracic popped in as did The Cardio Vascular Surgeon, and Suggested They estimated I had about an 8% chance of survival coming in the door , and My 1st Blood pressure they took off of the ambulance was 60/30 which is only a couple of Points Above "DEATH COMA" and your not coming back....
As I began the long road to recovery , I was trollied over for an MRI and it was found That I in fact had 2 secondary aneurysms each in the Popliteal Arteries Located behind The knees , and the Vascular Doctor was Concerned about the Right one , which measured 3.1 mm ( the Left was 2.4mm ) He wanted me to have a surgical Bypass at that time since I was there Just waiting, However , I opted to NOT have the surgery at that time I honestly believe IT Might have Killed me as IT was I was 32 days trying to recover from MY open chest surgery ... I waited a year and the Vascular was NOT happy about it at all, but I went in for 3 days and when discharged in 2010 I found 136 staples holding my leg together From the Hip bone to the knee and below the knee to mid calf..... Not at all fun or Pretty ... This Bypass causes Swelling and water retention, and Neuropathy pain that make walking difficult but you have to take it on head first ... Below Graphic is a Emergent Thoracic Aortic Dissection ("Type A") similar to Mine with Full Tampinaud ( Blood from the ruptured Aorta contained within the Pericardial sack, slows the heart as the Blood pressurizes the "sandwich Baggie" that surrounds the Heart .... NOT to be confused with other segments of the Aorta ("Type B" ) ( Type A is from the Aortic Valve leaving the Heart to the Beginning of The Arch which Goes up over and behind the Heart into the "Descending Thoracic Aorta" which is the part from the Arch to about the bottom of the Rib cage (Diaphragm) where It Becomes the Abdominal Aorta until it splits into two Illiac Arteries at the top of your hipbones into either leg. I Ultimately had 2 surgeries on the right leg the 2nd one wasn't nearly as involved as the 1st. and I was also found TO have developed Atrial Fibrillation which is a Cardiac Arrhythmia caused, In My case by a Mild cardiomyopathy or Thickening of the muscle walls or septum's which can be a common problem with adults and children athletes and regular folks with Numerous causes A Fib Is one of the Most seen Arrhythmia out there in folks quite common, often a "cardio version" or electric shock is given to help the heart go back into a normal rhythm other times when that stops working They can do a Catheter Ablation and work on thinning the septal and even exterior walls from Inside the Heart as the measure against the electrical Impulses of the contractions of the heart... by shaving a little here or over there They can "re-tune" the heart to Normal I' had it done a year and a half ago and have been Normalized since ( for the time being at least) ten years our will I ever be normal Not with the medications not with the neropathy of the feet (peripheral Vascular disease) which limits my exercise time which doesnt help the ticker stay strong... One of the most frustrating issues Is that We need regular followup visits Typically any Aortic Pt would have some form Of Imaging MRI CT Echo even Xrays and someone who's doing well Might be annually or even every two years other vascular issues (in MY case the POPILTEAL aneurysms are looked at annually and My "time frame is typically Now March/April" This year 2020 I have an April 13th Chest CT and followup By My Cardio Thoracic Surgeon who reads the scan and Compares it to My past scans .... Last year MY Cardio Vascular Doctor Had the scan done but we had difficulties in actually having an appointment that wasn't cancelled so I actually compared My 2018 and 2019 reports and found not changes at all so I wasn't too worried This year I will try again Most likely this week to call his PA... I have also been seeing a electro-cardio guy (for my Afib) and he saw me yesterday, we did a medication change after long term Normalcy with my heart rate and IF things continue as they are I wont have to see him For a year as well going into Year 11 of this Its amazing to have come through so many trials and tribulations and ha such a wonderful Team of Professionals Take care of my health during this time. When one considers (92%) of folks at that time 11 years ago would not have even survived the surgical intervention.... so i have to be grateful to The 2 Thoracic, 4 Cardio-Vascular surgeons , and 4 Cardiologists who've Honestly supported and operated on me over that time as well as countless Nurses Aprns PA's office help Lab and especially all of the echo techs and CT techs and doctors as well as others Involved....