The summer between high school and college was supposed to be a celebration of graduation and an exciting preparation for college. I had three jobs, international travel and lots of other big plans in the works. While it turned out differently than I had planned, it was a huge step in getting my diagnosis and for that I am thankful. I decided to share this story because often trauma is the pivotal point in the diagnosis for people with Loeys-Dietz, yet they are not widely talked about.  

On July 3^rd, while standing and typing at the bank I worked at, I suddenly felt like I had pinched a nerve on the right side of my rib cage. I remember thinking how odd of a sensation it was given the location. I was still training for my job and had a lot planned that day, so I did not let the weird feeling stop me. After all, I have a heart condition and am prone to odd sensations. After being on the lake that night, I woke up very sore around my collarbone and still had a pinching sensation in my side. Laughing at lunch induced a coughing fit. Paddle boarding and walking was exhausting. Even the vibrations from the sound of the fireworks made me sore. Like most of us, I had enlisted the help of WebMD and reached a self-diagnosis of bronchitis. I had never had bronchitis but it seemed probable enough, especially due to my overwhelming urge to cough.  

I continued on with life thinking that there was nothing that you could do about bronchitis but let it run its course. About a week later, I was modeling t-shirts for my 2nd job. The location we were at required us to walk up and down a very steep hill, several times, in 100 degree heat. I was so worn out that I felt sick to my stomach. At the bank the next morning, I was in a lot of pain, I told my coworkers that I felt sick and hogged the chairs (there were not enough for all of us at the counter). The coughing got worse that day, as if something stuck in my lungs and I was in too much pain to cough hard enough to get it out. At this point, I was ready to admit that I was not getting better. On top of that, my mom and I had planned on a trip to Ecuador at the end of July. I was not prepared to leave the country feeling sick, so I scheduled an appointment with my doctor for the following day.  

Sitting in the waiting room I started to feel like I was over reacting because the extreme pain from earlier that week had gotten better. When I was called back, the nurse talked to me about anxiety (the usual conversation when I say I have chest pain consistent with my pre-existing heart condition). I started to believe that I was just anxious: I was working three jobs, my family had gone out of town (after I convinced them that I was fine), I was about to move several states away, I was planning a big trip abroad, not to mention all the other major changes in life that happen when you graduate from high school and start the transition to adulthood.  

By the time the doctor came into the room I was embarrassed, upset, and ready to go home. After a quick exam she assured me that the soreness was probably from coughing but sent me to get an x-ray anyway. At this point, the radiologists had gone home, so she looked at the images and did not see any fluid which confirmed there was in fact nothing that I needed to cough out of my lung, like I had thought earlier. She asked me to take advil daily and call her for an antibiotic if the pain did not go away. 

The next morning, Friday the 13th, I went to work feeling humiliated that I had overreacted, especially since my coworkers teased me for fake coughing because the coughs were quiet and dry. At 8:15am I had missed calls and texts from my mom. They said that the doctors called to say I needed to get to the emergency room immediately and that she was on her way home to meet me. When the radiologists looked at the x-ray, they had noticed something that we were not looking for: my right lung was collapsed…