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I decided to make this web page for several reasons:
Dr Illza Perold reported on the X-rays - and this, to me, was a miracle: that she could diagnose this unexpeted and rare condition so correctly. From her face I could see that she found something very grim - her diagnosis: "Dissecting aneurysm of the aorta", a rarely diagnosed condition. As a medical student I had heard about the condition, but had never seen a patient with it and what I really knew about dissecting aneurysm was that in September 2003 50-year old John Ritter, actor in the popular Television sitcom "Three's Company", had died suddenly after collapsing on the set of his TV series.
It was clear that I had to get to a cardiac surgeon as quickly as possible. From now on there were many things that just miraculously worked out in my favour.
Dr Tredoux was able to contact Dr WP "Spanner" van Zyl a Somerset West Cardiac surgeon with a special interest in Aorta repair. Dr van Zyl was on leave, due to visit Scotland within 2 days, but he agreed to see me. The journey from Hermanus to Somerset West is over 2 mountain passes, and an ambulance that would have to come from Cape Town would have taken 5 hours to get me to the Somerset West Heart Hospital - however, Dr Tredoux and staff of the Hermanus hospital managed to get hold of an emergency helicopter. The helicopter with its woman pilot, paramedic and nurse delivered me safely on the Vergelegen Hospital's helipad.
In the operating room there were the cardiac surgeon, Dr W.P. van Zyl and two anaesthetists: Drs Blaine and Phillips. Dr Phillips was in cell phone contact with Lexa from the operating room in order to keep her updated on the progress of the operation so that the family could be informed. He was also responsible for prescribing and controlling my medication during the immediate postoperative period and for the 2 weeks that I was in the ICU.
I remember very little about the period immediately preceding the operation, and of the operation itself only what I was told afterwards. I woke after the 5 hour long operation in the Intensive Care Unit.
The ICU can be quite intimidating because of the many tubes and lines leading to and from the patient.
Vital signs of patients are constantly monitored and shown on a screen. All the machines have alarms which alert the nursing staff if the slightest abnormality is detected. Nursing is one on one, but I often had more than one nurse simultaneously attending to me. The nurses are all highly qualified in subjects like critical care, cardiology, psychiatry, etc. In many ways patients are physically treated like newborn babies, however, the nurses are not patronising and patients are treated with sensitivity. I was impressed by the compassionate and humane behavior of all the members of the ICU staff. My perception was that their main goal is the patient's well-being.
There are aspects of being a patient in ICU that can be an ordeal, for example: literally being tied to the bed by tubes and lines and especially not having a voice while on the ventilator. Yet, I found the ambience in the ICU such, because of the attitude of the staff, that it felt like a large friendly family. It was wonderful to get to know the staff in the ICU.
Unfortunately it was not possible to get photos of all the nursing care-givers who made a lasting impression on me, but here are some of them:
On the left: Sister Clara with the patient.(In South Africa senior nurses are addressed as "Sister")
There are several nurses of whom I have no photos, they should be mentioned because they made a profound impression on me : The kind and patient Quintin, who seemed to understand my soundless speaking better than anybody else and who realised that a tiny cube of ice was a huge treat for a patient. Cheerful Margie gentle Martha, Annette and Monroe the only nurse who believed me when I explained that television is soporific for me and would help me sleep.
for "More ICU"