‘I’m forever grateful’ | Central Texas mother delivers healthy baby weeks after massive heart attack

AUSTIN, Texas —

One Central Texas circle of relatives is counting their blessings every time they embody their youngest kid. That’s as a result of mother of 3 Tara Vickers suffered a massive heart attack a few month prior to her due date. 

At first, she concept she was once having standard being pregnant heartburn. It wasn’t till it would not pass away that she discovered the issue was once a lot more critical.

“It doesn’t really hit me until now, looking back, how serious it was and how close to death I really was. And the baby, too,” Tara Vickers mentioned.

It was once that popularity that her care group says stored her lifestyles. 

“She’s my best friend. Almost wasn’t here today,” mentioned her husband, Seth Vickers.

High college sweethearts Tara and Seth Vickers were given married six years in the past. They then grew their circle of relatives with young children Jackson and Chandler. 

“Now we’ve built a family, and now we just plan on living the dream,” Tara Vickers mentioned.

But one night time, whilst pregnant along with her 3rd kid, Tara started experiencing some discomfort.

“I started having, like, a burning feeling in my chest. And it went all the way to my back, shoulder blades, and it just got increasingly worse,” Tara Vickers mentioned.

She attempted heartburn medication and her inhaler when it were given more difficult to breath, however not anything labored. 

“That’s when God told me, ‘You need to go.’ So, I told Seth, I was like, ‘We have to go,'” she mentioned. “He drove me to the E.R., got to the E.R.. My blood pressure is 185 over 125.” 

After working a couple of assessments, her physician in Weimer, Texas, mentioned she was once having a SCAD (Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection) heart attack. She was once flown to St. David’s North Austin Medical Center. 

The nurses at the helicopter warned her that there can be a large group looking ahead to her when she were given there. 

“There was probably 30 people, at least, in that room. And the ER team, the OB team, the cardiac team and everybody was around me,” Tara Vickers mentioned. “But it wasn’t hectic. I never felt like anything bad was happening.” 

Seth Vickers needed to pressure about an hour and a part from Weimer, Texas, to fulfill his spouse. He mentioned everybody was once so calm that it wasn’t till later that he discovered how critical issues had been. 

“I wasn’t there for all the team and all that interaction. So, you know, whenever I showed up … it’s wild,” Seth Vickers mentioned. “It was a shock to walk in and see her hooked up to all that stuff.”

One member of the group was once Interventional Cardiologist Dr. Robert Wozniak. 

“Anything that a person can do to help someone, particularly with a happy ending where Mom and Dad and baby are alive and going to have a wonderful life, it’s very fulfilling,” Wozniak mentioned.

Wozniak handled Tara Vickers’ heart, and a high-risk being pregnant group watched after her baby. 

Once she was once stabilized, they were given her to attend 3 weeks prior to handing over baby Charlie. They sought after to attend as a result of handing over a baby so quickly after a heart attack is unhealthy. 

“It was a perfect delivery. I have a perfectly healthy baby now to show for it. It was a lot to go through, but it was a really good ending,” Tara Vickers mentioned. 

It wasn’t till after they had been house and settled and went in for a follow-up appointment that Seth Vickers mentioned he in point of fact understood simply how blessed they had been. 

“He came and told her like, ‘After seeing your EKG, I don’t know how you didn’t die in there.’ And I feel like that’s whenever it hit me,” Seth Vickers mentioned.

Now the Vickers circle of relatives simply desires to thank the care group, even if thank you are not sufficient. 

“They truly did save my life. They saved my daughter’s life. I’m forever grateful for them,” Tara Vickers mentioned.

“I feel forever indebted because they kept my family together,” Seth Vickers mentioned.

Her docs and care group credit score her rapid motion for saving her and her baby’s lifestyles. Instead of passing off her chest ache as standard heartburn, Tara Vickers known that one thing was once flawed and were given assist. 

“If you start to have symptoms, honestly, I would rather see you 10 times in the hospital and say, ‘yep, it is just reflux,’ than miss that time that you’re actually having an event,” mentioned Dr. Kimberly DeStefano, an OBGYN and the clinical director of maternal fetal medication at St. David’s North Austin Medical Center.

“Because time really matters, and our ability to intervene and have a good outcome for Mom and baby really depends on how quickly you get in for care,” DeStefano added.

Tara Vickers’ heart specialist mentioned it is necessary to concentrate on signs like chest discomfort or respiring issues and not to forget about them when one thing does not really feel proper – even if you find yourself pregnant. 

“The best thing you can do is call EMS and they’ll evaluate you in your home to find out, is this something that needs higher care? Like the emergency room or, in this case, a helicopter ride in the sky to a subspecialty place that can give you even higher care because your life depends on it,” Wozniak mentioned. 

Tara Vickers’ docs at St. David’s additionally credit score the docs on the health facility in Weimer, Texas, for spotting that one thing was once flawed and calling for the helicopter. They say saving her lifestyles was once a group effort that began there. 

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