True story! Twenty years ago, I was young with no medical insurance of my own. Visiting home during summer break and hanging with my sister, we viewed half-million-dollar houses, which neither of us could afford. My TGV episode began after climbing from the wine cellar to the third-floor widows’ walk to view the city.  With tingling in my fingers, a sharp pain shoots from the cerebellum into the spin.  Therefore, I made my way to the main floor of the house and out to the car.  Within seconds, my left arm was numb to the point I had to hold it against my body with my right forearm.  The pain was unbearable. My arm became a dead weight. 

My sister rushed me to the emergency room and gave me her insurance card, and I became her.  After an EKG and chest X-ray, the attending physicians were puzzled! They examined my sisters’ prior EKG and medical records and knew something was wrong. According to medical records, my sister was healthy and had delivered a healthy baby boy two years earlier. The physicians could not phantom what caused her to acquire such a cardiac anomaly. What happened in those two years to reflect these abnormalities?

 Questions ensued. Have you ever had a heart attack?  Have you ever been told you have irregular heartbeats? Have you been diagnosed with heart failure recently?  I said, No! Why? It was evident by their faces, they thought, perhaps she is also a lunatic.  They admitted me for more testing. 

The following day the gig was up. The nurse coordinator for the adults with congenital heart disease/defects clinic introduced herself.  Continuing the lunacy, I introduced myself as my sister.  In so many words, she said these two EKGs do not belong to the same individual.  Therefore, after she assured me, my sister nor I would be in any legal trouble, although we performed an illegal offense, I finally gathered the courage to introduce myself. 

Hello, I am Kim Daniel. I was born a blue baby. At three weeks of age, I was diagnosed with transposition of the great vessels. I’ve had two open-heart surgeries—my first open heart surgery, I was three weeks and four days. My second open heart surgery was at the age of five. I had the Hanlon-Blaylock procedure and the Mustard procedure, and presently, I do not have insurance.

The nurse coordinator was understanding and informed me; no hospital can turn away an individual with an emergency.  She then said she had the perfect doctor for me.  That afternoon, I met Dr. Joseph J. Billadello.  The best cardiologist I was ever paired with, IN MY OPINION. 

Rest In Peace, Dr. Billadello.  (Transitioned August 8, 2018)