Patient Story - Jessica Davis

Jessica Davis had an aortic bypass after experiencing leg pain.

Talk a little about yourself.

I am 34 years old. I am engaged. I should be getting married next spring, summer...we haven't quite set the date a wonderful guy I've been with for 10 years. I'm an animal lover and an animal advocate. I am the head cook for the Columbia American Legion. And I feel very lucky and blessed to be here today.

How did you find out you had an aortic blockage?

With being a head cook, I am on my feet most of the day, and all of a sudden, I was having these pains in my right leg and my right foot. It just kept on getting worse and worse to the point where I was only able to be on them for maybe a couple hours at a time and then I was in severe pain. At one point in time, my toes turned purple, and many tests from my primary care provider went to show that they thought I had Raynaud's, and I was being treated for that. And then just out of the blue, she had said, "Why don't we do a doppler on your legs just to see." She did the doppler and come to find out I had a blockage, and that blockage was by my ankle. It had broken off from up by my belly button. I had the blockage of my aorta. That was a big surprise, and that was something that I never thought it would come to. I was thinking I was going to meet my mother in heaven. But I was like we'll go from there.

What has your care been like?

Everybody was wonderful. Everybody that I dealt with, they were fabulous. I'm a very high anxiety person, so they definitely did their best to calm my nerves and keep me calm and collected for the entire thing. It really gave me a sense of peace that I did not know that I could have at a time like that. 

How are you feeling now?

Since the procedure everything has been fabulous. When I was in the hospital, they were trying to find a pulse in my right foot. You could feel it in my left foot by touch, but in my right foot, you could not. Now you can feel it by touching the right foot. Every time I go to his office for a checkup...because this all happened in September of 2016, I've been there I think three times now for checkups...and they're all so nice. They know me by name. We talk and have a little chat before he comes into the room and whatnot. Everyone's just been really wonderful. I mean considering the experience, and what I was going through, it couldn't have been a better experience. 

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