At age 50, my father was rushed to Timkin Mercy Hospital in Canton, Ohio after an aneurysm ruptured in his abdominal aorta. Dr. Dash performed emergency surgery to repair the aneurysm and miraculously saved my father's life. My father made a complete recovery and returned to work.
Then, at age 59, my father was diagnosed with a thoracic aortic aneurysm. He was referred by Drs. Gardner, Kavic. and Pandit from St. Francis Medical Center in Pittsburgh, PA to Dr. Denton Cooley of University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, Texas for surgery. Dr. Cooley explained to my father that after surgery he might have less strength on his left side. My father signed a consent form prior to surgery which outlined "transient paraplegia (weakness in the legs)" as a possible complication.
The surgery left my father paralyzed below the chest; confined to a wheelchair with no bowel or bladder control. Even though he worked very hard at rehabilitation, it was very difficult for him as a cardiac compromised paraplegic patient to achieve any independence.
Less than eight months after surgery, my father died after another aortic aneurysm ruptured.