Marcya is amazed
to be alive
Marcya Truesdell, 61, Bentleyville, felt something was wrong.
She considered her family’s history of heart disease and went
right to Canonsburg Hospital emergency department. That
decision, and the keen instincts of her doctor, saved her life.
“I felt a pain in my chest and I couldn’t get the words out,”
Marcya explained. “The whole team at Canonsburg, from the
security guard to the nurses, were right on it.”
“I owe Dr. Clark my life.”
MARCYA TRUESDELL, HEART PATIENT
Joseph Clark, DO, emergency medicine specialist, suspected
an injury to her aorta, the large blood vessel that feeds the
heart. It could put pressure on her voice box. A chest X-ray
confi rmed that Marcya had a dangerous aortic dissection.
“It could rupture, cutting off the blood supply to the heart,” Dr.
Clark said. He immediately called for LifeFlight to take her to
heart specialists at Allegheny General Hospital (AGH).
“They moved so fast, I wasn’t sure what was going on. But I just
knew they would send me to the right place,” Marcya said. She
was taken right into open heart surgery and spent fi ve days
recovering at AGH.
Now she’s working hard to regain her health, so she can spend
more time with her grandchildren. “They tell me that most
people don’t live through this, because most doctors don’t
diagnosis it,” she said. “This was a close one.”
2,000
3
NEW CASES
OF AORTIC
DISSECTION
EACH YEAR
FACTORS INCREASE RISK:
SMOKING, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
AND HIGH CHOLESTEROL