Justine Carter

Justine Carter, a 33-year-old mother of two young ones, stepped onto the treadmill hoping exercise would boost her energy for the day. Twelve minutes in, she figured she had a bad stomach flu. She even sent a video message to her sister describing the incoming symptoms and saying, “I’m not dead yet, but I feel dead.”  Oh, the foreshadowing. 

Shortness of breath, a pain in her back that penetrated to her chest, and violent vomiting soon followed.

Justine called her husband Kevin for backup, but not long into their conversation, her words garbled. Kevin raced home, while adding his mother, Teresa, a long-time nurse at Mountain View Hospital, to the call. That’s when their four-year-old son spoke up on Justine’s phone, telling Kevin and Teresa that Mommy was sleeping and wouldn’t wake up.

Kevin told Teresa he thought Justine’s blood sugar levels were low due to hypoglycemia, but when they arrived at the house, Justine’s breathing looked slow and ineffective, and she appeared to be having a seizure.

Teresa checked Justine’s pulse twice; by the second time, Justine’s heart had stopped. Instinctively flying into “nurse mode,” Teresa began CPR while praying in her mind with each compression. Meanwhile, Kevin dialed 9-1-1 and an emergency medical team raced to the scene.

For 25 minutes, Justine’s heart did not beat.

For 25 minutes, blood only circulated to her body through CPR.

For 25 minutes, she did not breathe on her own.

EMTs continued CPR and provided five electrical shocks. Finally, after what felt like forever, Justine’s heart resumed its rhythm. The ambulance rushed the still unresponsive Justine to Mountain View Hospital, a nearby facility known for providing exceptional emergency care and cardiology services. Within the Emergency Room, medical professionals moved quickly, gathering information through lab work and EKGs and making plans for treatment. 

“As a nurse, when I heard the lab results and saw her ST elevation on the electrocardiogram -everything looked ominous.” Teresa said. “Our emergency room doctor called the cardiologist. He did not hesitate to get her to the cardiac cath lab.”

When you have chest pain: Seek life-saving heart care, close to home

Within Mountain View Hospital’s cardiac catheterization laboratory, an area equipped with advanced technology and specialized team members, experts used a catheter to inject contrast dye that would provide visualization of Justine’s heart and arteries. That’s how the cardiac team identified the problem: Justine suffered from a coronary artery dissection, meaning the inner layer of Justine’s artery had spontaneously torn. In response, to the artery tear, her artery’s wall swelled and obstructed proper blood flow.

“With a spontaneous coronary artery dissection, there’s nothing you can do to prevent it,” Justine said. “Medically, I only had a 10 percent chance of survival … The Mountain View cath lab did awesome!  When I woke up, I didn’t know what was going on, but the ICU team filled me in. They were so kind, they made me feel like a human and not a number. Everyone was incredibly sweet and provided healing.”

During the time between the cath lab and waking up, Justine spent several days in the ICU on a ventilator and in a medically induced coma, allowing her body to rest. Though Justine doesn’t remember it, those days felt extremely heavy for her loved ones, as they wondered what Justine’s neurological function would be like when she woke. All they could do was continue to wait and pray.

“I’ve seen all types of situations. I knew the possibilities of brain damage,” Teresa said. “Thankfully, as they weaned Justine off the medication, she’d squeeze our fingers on command and nod her head.  When she woke up, she knew us all! It felt like a miracle. It was a miracle.”

Double trouble: Mountain View Hospital saved my life – twice

A week later, Justine returned to her home for further rest and recovery. Teresa remembers visiting her daughter-in-law that first morning home and seeing Justine in a cozy robe, eating yogurt and glowing with happiness. An hour later, however, Kevin called Teresa to say Justine needed to return to Mountain View Hospital – the nausea, chest pain and shoulder pain had returned. It seemed she was having another life-threatening heart episode.

Once again, Mountain View’s emergency team ran tests and confirmed heart troubles. On top of that,

Justine’s blood pressure plummeted to dangerously low levels.

“I really was afraid her heart was giving out and that we were going to lose her right then,” Teresa said.

The emergency team diligently worked to stabilize Justine’s blood pressure enough to air transport Justine to Timpanogos Regional Hospital, a collaborative sister hospital with one of only two hybrid operating rooms in Utah that offer interventional procedures for cardiac conditions.

At Timpanogos, the cardiac cath lab team, OR team, thoracic surgeon and cardiologist awaited Justine’s arrival. They quickly obtained another visualization of the heart using contrasting dye and saw that Justine’s original aortic tear had grown in length, causing more swelling and yet another occlusion. After restoring blood flow by deploying a balloon to provide compression to the interior wound, the cardiologist implanted a small heart pump to temporarily relieve Justine’s heart of some of its workload.

For the next three days, Justine lay still as a machine assisted her heart.

“It was scary to think about a machine pumping my heart. It made me anxious. At the same time, I was grateful for the help. I’m so thankful for everyone who helped save my life. I had the best nurses and the best cath lab teams,” Justine said. “I’m so grateful to still be here.”

Slowly, the cardiology team reduced the mechanical heart pump’s function. As the pump did less, Justine’s heart did more. Eventually, Justine’s heart took the full load of work, and a few days later Justine returned home to her family.

Reflection, recovery and heart healing words

Since surviving two death-defying heart events, Justine aims to safely rebuild her heart’s strength and return to her normal activities. To do so, she attends Mountain View Hospital’s Cardiac Rehabilitation three times a week, where rehab exercise specialists provide medical supervision and advice as she participates in cardiovascular exercises. 

“They hook me up to heart monitors and check my blood pressure while I get on the treadmill … Now I know I can walk for 30 minutes at a certain pace and I’m safe,” Justine said. “It’s also helping me get my confidence back.”

Reflecting on all she’s been through, Justine understands the severity of her situation and recognizes that the proximity, timeliness and the coordination of quality cardiac care had a tremendous impact on her chances for survival. That said, she also recognizes a divine hand aiding her.  

“I know God is in the details. The fact that my ER doctor sent me back to the cardiac cath lab so quickly, the fact that there was an excellent heart doctor working that day, and other sacred, personal experiences let me know that we are never alone,” Justine said. “This has definitely changed my life. Our life is fragile and so short. It makes me realize that little things I think matter probably don’t … So just enjoy life for what it is and take a step back … It’s also helped me know it’s ok to slow down and listen to my body, and to let others do things for me (that’s hard!) … Overall, it made me want to be a better person.”