One morning four years ago, my sister took one look at me and said, “How are you doing?” I said, “You’d better call 911.”
It was a good thing that she did.
At the local hospital, they told me I had high blood pressure and a blocked carotid artery. But it wasn’t until I got to Johns Hopkins that I learned I had something even worse: dissection of my ascending aorta.
My vascular surgeon there repaired the tear, and today I’m doing just fine. I do have to take some medications every day, but I also do the things I enjoy most, like photography and my radio-controlled model boats. Oh, and in December, my sister and I celebrated my 70th birthday.
