Thought It Was Just Diarrhea: Ms. Helen’s Aortic Dissection Journey

Ms. Helen, from Surabaya, stayed active later in life, including through her knitting. One day, symptoms she first took for an ordinary stomach upset turned out to come from her aorta, the body's main blood vessel. She went on to have major surgery at Heartology.

The First Symptoms

It began with a full day of diarrhea. Then her vision blurred with spots, she had a headache, and her chest hurt. Shortly afterwards she fainted onto the shoulder of her household helper. She was admitted to hospital and had an ultrasound and a CT scan. The results were a shock: her aorta had torn.

This condition is called aortic dissection, a tear in the inner layer of the wall of the aorta, the main blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Ms. Helen felt confused and afraid, while her family was deeply worried because they knew it as a rare disease. Even so, she felt a sense of calm wrap around her. “God gave me a blanket, so I wouldn't be stressed,” she recalled.

Finding Answers at Heartology

Ms. Helen received a recommendation for Heartology. At the same time, her child searched on social media and found the profile of a heart surgeon at Heartology. The family decided to bring her here. At Heartology she had a CT scan from top to bottom, which confirmed the diagnosis of aortic dissection.

Her care involved many specialties: the Heartology thoracic and cardiovascular surgery team, cardiologists including dr. Suko Adiarto, Sp.JP (K), Ph.D., an anesthesiologist, as well as internal medicine, lung, neurology and dental specialists. Ms. Helen underwent a major operation lasting around six to eight hours, followed by another operation about a month later.

Recovery and Ms. Helen's Message

After surgery, Ms. Helen spent nine days in the ICCU, the intensive cardiac care unit, and went home on the 20th day of her hospital stay. She found her own meaning in the experience. “God wanted to give me symptoms so that I would take a break, so He let me faint,” she said. To her, fainting was what made her stop and get checked.

When the video was recorded, Ms. Helen was still recovering. Her legs were strong enough to walk for about 20 minutes. Her message for anyone facing a similar decision: do not be afraid of treatment, entrust your care to experienced doctors, and remember that life and death are in God's hands. She believes that if God allows someone a long life, He works through the hands of the doctors who operate on them. That belief kept her calm through every stage of her care.