‘A Whole New World’: Romeoville Mom Recovering After Lifesaving Surgery

A Romeoville resident is crediting surgeons and staff at a California hospital with giving her a new lease on life after a blood clot nearly proved fatal.

Tammie Johnson said her ordeal began last May, after she was hospitalized with ulcerative colitis.

“When I went back to work, I was really weak and out of breath,” she said. “That night, when I went home, I started feeling sick.”

Johnson said she experienced flu-like symptoms including a fever and sweating. The next day, it was even worse.

“When I woke up, I couldn’t even breathe,” she said. “It just took everything out of me.”

A trip to the emergency room at Edward Hospital in Naperville revealed that Johnson was suffering from a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot so large it blocked the main artery of one of her lungs.

The 44-year-old mom of four said doctors told her in most cases, the clots dissolve.

“They just figured that my body would absorb it,” she said.

But Johnson’s case proved to be more severe. Between July and September, she spent more than 45 days in the hospital.

“I was on oxygen all the time,” she said. “I started getting worse.”

Even simple tasks became too difficult for Johnson to perform.

“If I went up the stairs, I couldn’t breathe,” she said.

Johnson went to see a cardiologist, who conducted a stress test, with alarming results.

“They wanted me to walk [on a treadmill] for six minutes. After two minutes, I was exhausted,” she said. “I made it four. My heart blew up into a huge balloon when I did that.”

Without surgery, Johnson’s prognosis was grim, according to doctors. But there was an even bigger problem. No local doctors were willing to perform the procedure she needed.

“I talked to the cardiologist and he said, ‘I won’t touch you. It’s too risky,’” Johnson said.

The procedure that could save Johnson’s life — a pulmonary thromboendarterectomy, or PTE — is performed by just two hospitals in the U.S.

“We sat there in [the cardiologist’s] office while he want online and searched for hospitals that did the surgery she needed,” said Johnson’s mom, Marge Pack.

After doing her own research, Johnson made the decision to travel to UC San Diego’s Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center — the hospital known for pioneering the surgery, which has been performed on more than 2,700 patients at the hospital since 1970.

Pack decided to accompany her daughter to La Jolla, California, to be with her throughout her surgery and recovery.

Thanks to the Southwest Airlines Medical Transportation Grant Program, mother and daughter were able to fly to California and back and no cost to them.

Even more help came from the United Way, which helped pay for their monthlong hotel stay.

“Financially, neither of us could afford this trip,” Pack said, crediting friends and members of the family’s church with helping out.

Staff at Romeoville High School also provided a lifeline to her two younger daughters, along with gift cards.

“They were there for my kids,” Johnson said gratefully.

While she was confident in the surgical team at Sulpizio, Johnson admits she was afraid.

“It’s very risky,” she said, explaining that hypothermia is used to induce full cardiac arrest to prevent blood from flowing through the lungs during the procedure and obstructing the surgeon’s view.

“I thought I was going to die,” Johnson said. “My kids thought I was going to die.”

Johnson said her children — daughters ages 20, 18 and 16; and a son age 13 — coped by texting almost constantly to get updates on her condition.

“My son kept saying, ‘Mom, I think I should go with you,’” Johnson recalled. She said the teen was afraid he might not see her again after she left for the surgery. “He hugged me a lot,” Johnson said. “My two middle daughters really vocalized how they felt.

“They texted me a lot, and I sent them lots of pictures so they could feel a part of it.”

Johnson said her first thoughts upon waking from the nine-hour procedure were of her kids.

“I said, ‘I just need to tell my kids that I’m OK,’” she said.

Pack said she spent the better part of 26 days at her daughter’s side as she recovered from the Feb. 23 surgery.

The pair credits the surgical team with helping Johnson through her medical ordeal.

“They really do make you feel like you’re family,” she said.

Since arriving home March 10, Johnson said she’s been making major strides.

Despite being told she would need to be on oxygen for at least six weeks, Johnson has been able to breathe on her own since two weeks after the procedure.

Despite her progress, Johnson said it will be at least another six weeks before she’s able to return to work.

“I’ve been so out of my routine for almost a year now,” she said.

Johnson said she continues to take medication to allegiate post-surgery pain.

“I’m in a lot of pain,” she said, “but I can breathe. I thank Jesus every day that I can breathe, I can take a deep breath. It’s a whole new world.

“I have a whole new life now."