It was an ordinary Sabbath (Saturday) morning on Dec 7, 2024. My husband, Larry and I dressed, had breakfast, and went to church, we attend the Seventh-Day Adventist church.

After we arrived at church, when the opening hymn was announced and we rose to sing, I felt a little dizzy and my body felt weird, like a tremor throughout my body – I wasn’t in pain, but I just knew something was wrong. I asked Larry to take me to the urgent care clinic.

The doctor ordered an EKG and immediately said she would call an ambulance to take me to the hospital, she thought I was having a heart attack. Previously I had been told I have an abnormal EKG reading so I wasn’t too concerned. I told the doctor my husband could drive me to the hospital.

I told the ER doctor I just didn’t feel right, and I had had a tightness between my shoulder blades last night, that woke me up and lasted about 2 hours. So the E.R doctor consulted a cardiologist, who ordered a CT scan of my heart .

The ER doctor came back into the room and said, “I guess you know you have an aneurysm on your aorta, and it is quite large, 5.5cm.” I replied, “No, I have never been told that.” I was thinking that doesn’t sound too good, aneurysms kill people.

Then the cardiologist ordered an ultrasound of my heart which revealed a leaky aortic heart valve.

The thoracic surgeon came to visit me and suggested open heart surgery to repair both issues but first must do a heart Cath to look at my arteries to make sure there were no blockages.

The heart Cath showed my arteries were all clear and in good condition, I was good candidate for surgery. At my age (76) the doctor was surprised there was no plaque build-up or blockages. Maybe this due to the fact that I am a vegetarian.

The surgeon spoke with me again informing me that there was always a possibility of a stroke or heart attack during these surgeries. He wanted to make sure I was comfortable with his decision. They would cut through my sternum, open the rib cage, stop my heart and put me on a heart-lung machine while they did the repairs, then wire my sternum back together. I told him I wasn’t worried it was a win – win situation. He asked what I meant. I told him “When I wake up I will either see you or Jesus.” He said” I’ll do all I can to make sure it’s ME !”

I can honestly say I wasn’t worried and slept well the night before surgery. Many people were praying for me and the doctors, I was in God’s hands.

The Open-Heart surgery lasted 5 and ½ hours and my recovery has been without incident. I was surprised that I have had little or no pain. Yes, my chest has been sore, but it is not painful.

While recovering in ICU the surgeon came to check on me and said “Your Jesus is just going to have to wait a while.”

Later, I asked the doctor what caused the tightness between my shoulder blades (which is a sign of a heart attack in some women.) He said I wasn’t having a heart attack, but he was sure this was the result of the aneurysm expanding.

I went to Cardiac Rehab three days a week for seven weeks to help get my strength back and I feel great.

I share my story to let women know they need to listen to their bodies, if something doesn’t feel right, get it checked out. I always thought of myself as very healthy and was surprised to learn what was going on with my heart.

Aneurysms are a silent killer, and heart disease is the number one cause of deaths in women today in the U.S. I praise the Lord for extending my life for a while longer. Like a song says, “God isn’t through with me yet.” I look forward to seeing what he has planned for the rest of my life.

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