Hello all. My name is Andrea (Pizano) Johnson. I've always lived a normal healthy life and on October 16th, I gave birth to my son. He and I were both healthy and everything was going as expected postpartum. On the morning of October 20th, only 4 days after giving birth, I felt a sharp pain radiating in my chest, and noticed it was very difficult to breath. I was starting to sweat, and felt nauseous. My husband had to come take the baby from me as I no longer had the strength to hold him. I was taken by ambulance to JFK Memorial Hospital where a series of tests were conducted. I spent 4 days there and was discharged Sunday the 24th. They told me I had a "heart attack" and that I would need medications for at least a year. I was finally home with my newborn again, only to be cut short less than 24 hours later. Monday the 25th, my husband noticed the same symptoms from that Wednesday morning and drove me to Eisenhower Medical Center. I was admitted to the Cardiac ICU where they observed me overnight. The following Tuesday morning, the doctors didn't like what they saw on the EKG and did an angiogram. That is when they found the dissection in my left main coronary artery. They told my husband that I suffered from something called Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD). Basically the inside of my artery on the left side of my heart started to tear inside and cause problems with blood flow. It was then the doctors knew I needed emergency open heart surgery. After opening my chest for what they thought would only be a bypass, they realized there was much more damage then expected. The surgeons ended up having to do a triple bypass (CABG), and had to place a device called an impella in my heart to help my heart pump blood to the rest of my body. The next morning on October 27th, I was taken via helicopter to Loma Linda Hospital. Since my heart had taken so much damage, the doctors had to do another surgery to upgrade the impella machine to allow more blood flow. The last I had reached out, I was awaiting a new heart and finally received my new heart the Sunday after Thanksgiving on November 28th. I'm slowly improving with a few hiccups along the way and hoping to make it home by Christmas to be with my older daughter and new born son. We appreciate all the love and support everyone has shown my family and me. Please stay safe during this holiday season and keep the prayers and positive thoughts coming our way.
This event brought on unexpected costs as well as disrupted our daily lives. My family and I are trying to raise money for medical expenses, traveling, food, and hotel costs. My husband tries to make arrangements so I'm able to visit with my children as often as I can. We appreciate all donations and support during this time and hope that it can ease some of the pain.
I have attached a link where you can read more about SCAD. It is very rare and something we never knew existed or that it affected pregnant women.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/spontaneous-coronary-artery-dissection/symptoms-causes/syc-20353711
Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. We hope everyone is well during this holiday season. Thank you again for the help and support.
Andrea and Daniel Johnson