Hi, I'm new here. Nice to meet you.

[GettingThere]

Hi Everyone, I just found this site and would like to introduce myself. 

 

A year before my husband passed, his brother called to let us know that during the routine stress test before his knee surgery, his doctor found that he had an enlarged aorta.  His doctor suggested letting other family members know because he could potentially be genetic and that perhaps my husband should get checked out.  We never heeded his advice.  My husband was perfectly healthy, no symptoms whatsoever.  He played competitive racquetball twice a week, he and our soon ran 3 miles every Saturday.  Enter survivor’s guilt.

 

I lost my husband at the age of 45 with 2 kids in February 2017. We had been married for 24 years; our 25th wedding anniversary would have been in December. Ironically, just the night before we were talking about how we thought we would definitely make it to our 50th wedding anniversary since we had married so young. The next morning my husband and our son made breakfast for us girls. I went to get in the shower before we ran some errands. As I was getting out of the shower, our son came to me and said that dad was breathing weird. That day that started out so wonderfully became a very long and devastating day.  I thought we were about to get in the ambulance and rush to the hospital, but, that never happened. Knowing what I know now, he was already gone and nothing could have saved him…not even if I had been with him the moment it happened or if I hadn’t been in the shower. He had an aortic dissection.

 

After my husband passed, our son who was 10 at the time, started feeling like he could die at any moment. I reassured him, but, he is the type of person that needs facts. So, I called the pediatrician to ask what we could do to alleviate his fears. Our pediatrician, aware of what had happened, suggested doing echos on both kids. The echo for our son only validated his fear. Our son also had an enlarged aorta. He is currently monitored every 6 months with an MRI or an echo.  I could kick myself for not having made that cardiology appointment for my husband. But the flip side is, we never would have checked our son. Through doctor’s appointment for our son, I have learned so much information that has actually helped my brother-in law and expedited the scheduling of his open heart surgery that he will be having soon to repair his aorta.

 

So, here I am.  At this point in my journey I can see some silver linings and through all of this we have been fortunate in many ways.

Edited September 23, 2018 by GettingThere

[Julester3]

Almost seems similar to my experience. I am sorry you are here with us. Thank you for sharing your story and I hope you are doing okay today. Hugs! 

[GettingThere]

Hi @Julester3, I am doing well.  Hope you are having a good day. Thank you for the welcome.

[BrokenHeart2]

Glad you found us GettingThere!! As you well know this is a group nobody wants to join! I hope you find a source of support with all the terrific people here!

Hugs

[GettingThere]

Thank you @BrokenHeart2, I appreciate it.  You are right..."nobody wants to".  

Edited September 26, 2018 by GettingThere

[donswife]

so glad you reached out , please feel free to read and write as much as you want.Take Care 

[GettingThere]

Hi @donswife, Thanks.  I hope you are having a nice weekend.