Name: Maria Victoria C. Romero
Age: 49 years old
From: Manila, Philippines
Under: Asian Heart Foundation
Survivor of: Ascending Arch Aortic Aneurysm 7.0cm last January 11, 2011, at the Asian Hospital under the care of Dr. Jorge M. Garcia.
My moment of survival is something that I’d like to call a blessing especially knowing that I carried that disease for four years before my faith gave me a chance to live a longer life.
I first encountered chest pains in the year 2005 and then it continued to the year 2006. In the duration of those years, the pain was mild and tolerable, it would last less than a minute. It would radiate from my back to my chest and to ease the feeling of discomfort, I would take a break from whatever I was doing, stopping for a short while until it subsided. Though after a while of experiencing such pain, I decided to get it checked and had a chest X-ray but resulted in not getting any follow-ups from my doctor.
From that, I just continued to work from one job to another. My job as a customer service supervisor in a retail store was not easy at all. Every day was a stressful day, I had to attend to customers’ concerns and complaints, assist my people in the front office, and sometimes even helped push grocery carts in and out of the store. The job overall was a burden in itself and it got harder every day.
In November of 2007, I remember having a cough and it wasn’t ordinary like those I experienced before. I experienced terrible coughing and hoarseness of my voice. On top of that, I continued to feel chest pain at times. I felt a need to go and see a doctor since I had just received my company health card at that time. I went to see a Pulmonologist to have my bad coughing checked because as I have said, it was not the usual coughing that I experienced before. Added to the fact that I had been coughing for almost a month already.
After a day, I received my X-ray results and discovered that I carried a suspicious aortic aneurysm. At that time, I had no idea what that was. Nevertheless, I went back to work, and as I did, I went to see our company doctor and showed him the X-ray results. He then told me to see a specialist, specifically a thoracic surgeon.
In December of 2007, I first consulted a thoracic doctor from the Asian Hospital and a series of tests was registered to confirm my disease. I took a CT scan, 2D ECHO, Blood tests, and a CT angiogram. I then consulted other thoracic doctors from other hospitals in Manila just to get second opinions.
After my last diagnostic test, the last doctor that I had consulted urged that I have it fixed the soonest. He wanted it done by January of 2008.
Before leaving the hospital, I decided to go back to the Radiology Department and talk to the Radiology Department head. He reviewed my CT angiogram plates and explained my diagnosis to me. I remember him telling me, “Okay, the size of your ascending arch aortic aneurysm is 6.2cm, it’s quite alarming but the good thing is that there is no dissection at this time.” then continuing to explain, “Aorta is the main blood vessel and it’s thick so it won’t easily burst. You just have to take all the precautionary movements, take the needed medicine prescribed by your doctor, and the most important is to have it monitored every year.” He even added, “when you feel a sudden pang of pain from your back to your chest, call me.” and those were his last words from our conversation.
Within the next year, 2008, I went to see our family cardiologist Dr. Ernesto Chua. I had presented all of my diagnostic test results to him which resulted in him giving me an endorsement letter addressed to his good friend who was also the president of the Asian Charity Foundation Inc., and from there, he wanted me to apply to Asian Heart Foundation.
With his recommendation, I went to see the president of Asian Charity Foundation Inc. right away and presented to her the referral letter from Dr. Ernesto Chua, again, my cardiologist. She then asked me to prepare some requirements needed for me to apply for the charity. Days had passed. I was able to prepare some of the requirements and submit them to the secretary of the foundation. The application took me a year. While waiting, I continued to work and busy myself to take care of my family.
In the year 2009, I visited my cardiologist again for the yearly monitoring of my aneurysm. I had another CT angiogram to check the size of the said aneurysm and it turned out to have grown from 6.2cm to 7.2cm. My cardiologist advised me to have it fixed already. At that time, our finances were just enough for my family including the funds for my three children’s schooling. It’s safe to say that I wasn’t ready to spend such a big expense, adding on to the fact that I couldn’t take a long leave from work.
In March 2010, I received a call from the office of Asian Charity Foundation Inc. and they told me that I had gotten approved but only under the 50% section of the charity, meaning 50% of the hospital bill would be taken care of although, the team of doctors who would perform my operation was completely free of charge. I was ecstatic and grateful; it was truly such a blessing. It wasn’t easy to apply, I had to complete all of my requirements before the good news.
One thing led to another and I suddenly just woke one day and the unfolding of events was faster than lightning. I was scheduled to be operated on December 14, 2010, but when my pre-op lab results came out, they had to reschedule it because I needed to take a coronary angiogram which they scheduled for January 6, 2011. After that was handled, they rescheduled my operation for January 20, 2011.
I spent two days in the ICU and five days in a regular hospital room. After a week at home, I recovered rather fast, if I do say so myself. I do also believe that it was God’s doing. Throughout the whole process, He was so good to me. I couldn’t have been more grateful at that time.
I am thankful for the gift of life. Almost 10 years and counting, I am still and will always be proud to call myself a survivor, or in more fitting terms, a warrior.
I’m married and a mother of 4. My 26yo daughter who is now based in Austin Texas, my 18yo daughter studying in 2nd year college, my 15yo daughter in junior high school and my 13yo son in junior high school.