My story

In January 1994, I was 14 years old when I was diagnosed with Lupus Nephritis. My kidneys had completely shut down, and I was extremely sick. They started me on dialysis and heavy meds. I had to have chemo treatments, and lost all of my hair. My immune system was so low, I ended up getting pneumocystis pneumonia, and had to be put into a drug-induced coma for approx. a month. I was in the ICU on life support. Eventually, my kidneys started working again, and my lungs started healing. I was able to be brought out of the coma, and had a long road to recovery. A few months later I was considered to be in remission and healthy for the next 17 years. Until...

August 2011, I was 32 years old and 22 weeks pregnant with my first child, when I suddenly had an aortic dissection. No warning. No signs. No reason to ever think there was anything wrong. It hit me out of the blue, sitting on my couch, relaxing watching tv. I thought I was having a heart attack. The ER told me I wasn't, and started pumping me with morphine. After a few hours with no diagnosis, they told me that I was probably just having "ghost pains" but transferred me to another hospital anyway. Once there, they did a CT scan and found the dissection. I was told that they needed to rush me into surgery, and that the baby would most likely not survive. I was numb. Devastated. In shock. I woke up almost 2 days later to a new aortic valve and a repaired portion of a 2nd tear they found. They induced me 5 days later, and I delivered my precious sleeping angel.