Life took a frightening turn for Tatyerra Thomas shortly after giving birth to her daughter when she suffered a heart attack and cardiac arrest.
The Arlington mother had just given birth at another hospital in July 2023, where she returned days later with chest pain. She was discharged, but the nitrate tablets she was prescribed to manage her angina didn’t do the job.
“The nitroglycerin the other hospital had given me left me lying in the middle of the floor to the point where I couldn’t get up,” says Tatyerra, now 31. “I called the paramedics and told them, ‘Take me to Methodist.”
When Tatyerra’s mother, Lashawn Partee, arrived at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center, she was relieved to see that her daughter was finally receiving the care she needed.
“I felt like the nurses and doctors actually cared,” Lashawn says. “I could tell they valued her life and put forth an effort.”
That effort became lifesaving when Tatyerra’s heart stopped shortly after her arrival.
Baby RayLynn is right back where she belongs, in the arms of her mom and big sister, Angel.
Tatyerra’s heart attack was caused by spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), a rare condition where a tear forms in an artery’s wall, slowing or blocking blood flow to the heart. If not treated promptly, SCAD can result in a heart attack, arrhythmia, or sudden death.
After an ambulance rushed Tatyerra to Methodist Mansfield, the medical team took her to the cardiac catheterization lab, where her condition was diagnosed by Ammar Al Akshar, MD, cardiologist on the hospital’s medical staff.
“I quickly recognized this rare and often underdiagnosed condition and realized it had been overlooked at the previous facility where she had been discharged just hours earlier,” Dr. Al Akshar says. “The moment I saw Tatyerra, I knew I had to act immediately and decisively.”
Fortunately for Tatyerra, she was right where she needed to be. Dr. Al Akshar and his team quickly performed a lifesaving cardiac catheterization, restoring blood flow in the dissected right artery, all while she was receiving chest compressions.
“As a mother, the worst thing you could ever think of is losing your child,” Lashawn says, recalling those dramatic moments. “ I just remember feeling so devastated and had to keep reminding myself she was receiving the best care.”
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Tatyerra is grateful to be back home with her fiancé, Ryan, baby RayLynn, and 8-year-old Angel.
STENTS OPEN ARTERY
Tatyerra would need six stents, tiny scaffold-like structures used to keep an artery open and restore blood flow to the heart. She also needed help breathing from a ventilator and briefly went into ventricular fibrillation, a deadly arrhythmia.
But thanks to the quick response of Dr. Al Akshar and the rest of the medical team, Tatyerra was stabilized and breathing on her own the following day.
When she woke up from her procedure at Methodist Mansfield, Tatyerra’s room was full of medical staff from both the intensive care unit and nurses’ station. She says the support and love she received from the team has changed her life forever.
“Everyone was overjoyed knowing that she had woken up after her procedure,” Dr. Al Akshar says. “It was a true miracle to see her recovering and being able to care for her newborn baby.”
A week later, Tatyerra was discharged from the hospital and began her recovery, all while taking care of baby RayLynn and her big sister, 8-year-old Angel.
Tatyerra credits her cardiologist, Dr. Al Akshar, and nurses like Ashley Sellers, RN, who “did an awesome job.”
‘HEALTH IS WEALTH’
Tatyerra is still recovering a year after her lifesaving surgery, but she’s hopeful for the future, including preparing for her upcoming wedding.
She has since taken steps to improve her health, even creating a business dedicated to helping others improve their wellness.
“Health is wealth, we can’t just think we’re doing okay,” she explains. “Something as small as walking 30 minutes a day and changing your diet could change so much.”
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