I went to visit my divorcee, 37-year old brother in Las Vegas from Indiana. His kids and my children have been close and I always make a point for the kids to see each other; in this case, before school started in Indiana. It was about the first week of August 2002. During my one-week visit, he mentioned seeing a doctor and taking pain medication for some suspected kidney stones. You see, he had radiating pain on his left side which extended to his back. During my stay, he had a battery of tests including blood, urine tests and one test that required him to fast the day before and drink only magnesium citrate - nothing was found. He called the nurse and said something is wrong because I still feel a lot of pain. She insisted that he not worry.
Well, he mentioned he would be attending some type of convention (for work) in Virginia, after we left Vegas. So I never thought anything of it.
During his visit in Virginia, he was feeling faint, dizzy, with pain in the left side of his torso which extended to his back. The doctors took the same battery of tests and found nothing. Before kidding around, the doctor mentioned taking "just one more test - a chest x-ray...just to "make sure" and then, "he could be on his way off." They joked a little about it. Well, while waiting a few minutes, a team of nurses and doctors came and said, "Um, you need to sit down." "You're not going anywhere. As a matter of fact, we're sending you by helicopter to Washington Hospital Center (in D.C.)." They weren't laughing anymore.
He ended up having an aortic dissection from the top curve of his aorta to where it would run down to the kidney area. His blood pressure was stabilized (finally!) and after a little over a week, he was weaned from the bevy of medications through I.V. to tablet form.
I don't know the full extent of his conversation with his doctor; if whether he opted to have surgery back home because he had nowhere to stay in D.C. or what. But, once stabilized and a full day's rest, he was he was flown back in a red-eye flight (so that he can sleep during the flight) to his home in Vegas. My sister works at the School of Medicine at UCSD and recommended a cardiologist from their Head of Cardiology. Well, the flight was uneventful, but, as soon as he got home, his blood pressure shot up. My sister called his cardiologist and insisted on a visit immediately. Once there, the doctor ordered that he be flown to Cedar Sinaii in Los Angeles for work there.
They did some operative procedure through his groin and removed an aneurysm and cleared the pathway. Me and family's question is: why would the doctors opt for this instead of replacing or fixing the aortic valve? My husband has a worker who has a brother who had the same problem. They replaced his aortic valve.
Why did these doctors opt for this, while others would go immediately in their to nip the problem in the bud. I mean, my brother is 37-years old. He's not the typical patient in his 40s, 50s or 60s on up. For a young patient as he is, why would they not just go full steam and fix him?
Can someone please answer my question?
Thank you!
Sister in Indiana