Survivor Series Featuring Doug Barker

My Story

It started as a normal day, May, 8, 2019.  Shower, breakfast and out the door- nothing 

different.

I'm a self-employed plumber of 28 years and I was 63 years old. 

I went to the job sight alone to a vacant house, brought in my tools and waited for my appointment to arrive.

Suddenly, I had a metallic taste in my mouth, then chest pain.  I called 911 and the operator suggested I should sit down.  It was finally a beautiful day after a couple of cool rainy days so I went out and sat on the deck to wait for the ambulance. A neighbor came over to see if I was ok and waited with me for the ambulance to arrive.

Upon arrival, which was only about five minutes wait time, they treated me for possible heart attack with aspirin and nitroglycerin.  They transported me to Exeter Hospital in Exeter, NH which was only five minutes away. 

They did an EKG which was normal, drew blood and tested for enzymes which was also normal.  My attending nurse stated “he's dissecting!”  At that point they immediately did a CT Scan and realized they needed to 

send me off ASAP to another hospital as I had a ruptured aorta and was indeed dissecting.

A 17 minute “Med Flight” helicopter ride ensued to Mass General Hospital, about 60 miles away.  Meanwhile, my wife and two sons headed for the hospital arriving soon after I was evaluated and prepped for surgery.  An attending nurse called my son and he told her they 

had just arrived.  The surgeon told her to go meet them at the door, she brought the family up to see me just as I was being brought to the Operating Room.

The surgery was 8 hours and the nurse called my family with updates.  My ascending aorta had ruptured and the entire aorta had dissected down to the iliac arteries.  After the initial surgery to repair the rupture, I was back in the OR to repair a bleed for 2 hours more.

I spent three days in ICU heavily sedated. I received 12 units of blood, and had crazy hallucinations. They were finally able to remove the breathing tube on the third day and I went to the cardiac ward till discharge 9 days later. 

I realized something was wrong with my sight.  They did an MRI and found that during my surgery I had a showering of blood clots to my brain and one of them had interrupted the blood flow to the optic nerve of my right eye and I was permanently blind in that eye. 

I spent my time on that ward transferring, sitting then walking with assistance.  Once home, I began a very long recovery (both physically and emotionally).

Also, I have learned that three of my siblings also have enlarged aorta's and are now being monitored.  My surgeon told me that the high blood pressure I had been treated for since I was in my thirties was most likely the cause of the dissection.

Headaches had also been a regular occurrence for many years. I would like to encourage those who have had a dissection/rupture, to continue with their follow-ups and find a doctor you trust and who takes time to listen to you. 

On May 8, 2024 I will be celebrating my 5 year aorta anniversary!

Thank you for taking the time to read “My Story”. 

Doug Barker, East Kingston, NH