Marcus and Megan's Story

My name is Marcus Gonzales, and I am a caregiver to SCAD survivor and heart warrior Megan Gonzales.

Megan’s heart journey started on July 18, 2021.  That Sunday, we had a long day of being out with our kids at their games; my son plays select soccer and he was participating in a tournament that weekend, so we had been out in the sun all day and spent the evening at our neighborhood pool.

Megan started to feel dizzy and a little off. So, she decided to get out of the pool and just sit on the edge of it for a little while and see if it would pass. When it didn’t, she told me she was going to walk home. As she was walking home, the dizziness got more intense and by the time she made it to the front door of our home, she could barely stand. Our daughter, who was walking with her, asked her if she was alright. Megan told her no and to go get me. Next thing she knew, I was next to her and we were heading to the hospital. About 4 minutes into the ride, all of a sudden, she felt better. She chalked it all up to being out in the sun too long, not having drank enough water, and that was it. So, we decided not to continue to the hospital and instead, went to the grocery store. The very next day, Megan went to her workout with Camp Gladiator and was telling a friend all about the episode that had occurred the day before. She suggested Megan get it checked out. When Megan woke up early the next day, Tuesday, the same thing that happened on Sunday happened again. She got this overwhelming sense of dizziness and like she was going to pass out. So, she went back upstairs, woke me up and told me that it happened again. I suggested she skip the workout and lay down and see if it passed again. It did not, so this time, we decided to go to the hospital.

At the hospital, when a person mentions that dizziness, and a feeling like you may pass out, they typically see them right away. Fortunately, there was no one there so they took Megan right back to the station for an evaluation. They hooked her up to an EKG machine, took blood work, asked all kinds of questions, and then took her up to the heart floor. The cardiologist on call came in and said that the blood work showed a slightly elevated troponin level. Just enough that he was concerned about it, and they wanted to do an angiogram to see what may be causing it. So, they took Megan back for the angiogram. They told me it would be a quick procedure and then they would come and get me.

While she was back for the angiogram, she suffered a massive heart attack. The doctor came out and told me that Megan was being stabilized and then would need to be flown to a different hospital where they had a doctor that specialized in handling SCAD. A SCAD is a Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection. To this day they do not know what caused the SCAD. When Megan made it to the next hospital, our family had beaten her there, and the doctor who specialized in repairing SCADs had already prepped us for what to expect. He told us that she would be sore for a few days but ultimately, would make a full recovery. However, when Megan got there and he evaluated her, everything changed. He came back out and told us that the SCAD was the least of his concerns. The heart attack that she had suffered left the left side of her heart basically useless. She underwent a triple bypass attempt and was then placed on ECMO to allow her heart time to heal. Once she was stable enough, again, for transport, they flew her to the Heart Hospital in Plano. The doctor probably asked me 100 times if she did any drugs because the most common causes of a SCAD are recent pregnancy (our youngest child was 6 at the time), so they knew that was unlikely to be the cause of hers. The other most common causes are hormone use, inherited connective tissue diseases, and illegal drug use. A SCAD is an emergency condition that occurs when a tear forms in a blood vessel in the heart. This tear can slow or block blood flow to the heart, causing heart attack, heart rhythm problems, or sudden death. SCADs are most common in women in their 40s and 50s and are not associated to people with other high-risk factors for heart disease such as high blood pressure, cholesterol or diabetes.

Once Megan made it to the heart hospital in Plano, that is when things really got intense. They left her on ECMO for a couple of days to see if that would work.  During this time, they left her in a medically induced coma. So, she was completely out of it from July 20th until they woke her up from the coma on August 1st to discuss her options. Unfortunately, her heart did not make the progress they were hoping for, however, she did have an option to have an LVAD placed. This would give her the best chance at continued life. It was never a choice for her….she would fight to live for our family. She immediately opted for the surgery. And thank God that she did…she likely wouldn’t have made it out of the hospital otherwise.

Megan’s journey hasn’t been easy or without bumps in the road. In fact, in October of 2022 we almost lost her again. This time, it was because she contracted COVID-19 which doesn’t play nicely with Warfarin (the blood thinner she must be on because it is the only one approved to work for LVAD patients). Her INR spiked up to over 7 which resulted in a quick trip to Baylor in Plano for a keratin drip which was supposed to reverse the effects of the INR spike. However, that attempt was unsuccessful and the very next day, I was driving our son to football practice, and I get a phone call that Megan wasn’t “acting right”. So, I left our son at his practice and rushed home to find a very incoherent Megan who was mostly hitting her leg in a way to communicate with us and I knew right away that she was having a stroke. So, I called 911 and the ambulance came and drove us all the way to the Heart Hospital in Plano. Thankfully, she survived this massive stroke and is back to living her life!

We have had to learn a lot, overcome a lot, and continue to adjust to what is needed to ensure she is safe and living a good life on LVAD therapy. We walk this journey together.

So, what is a caregiver? According to the dictionary, a caregiver is a family or paid helper who regularly looks after a child or a sick, elderly, or disabled person. Megan received her LVAD on August 3, 2021. This was necessary for my wife to be able to continue living and be a part of our lives. When the LVAD coordinator spoke to me about the ins and outs of this lifestyle, the amount of care that would be necessary for her to be able to come home post-surgery and rehab would be substantial. In addition to the driveline dressings, there was wound care, prescription routines, vitamin k/warfarin/INR monitoring, etc… I didn’t care what was required, I just wanted her home with me and the kids. I have traditionally been known as a joker, easy-going and carefree kind of guy. In many ways, I’m still like that but also have a very serious/methodical side when it comes to Megan’s care. As of today, April 5th, 2024, it has been 2 years and 247 days. I’m not sure how many driveline changes we have done at this point, how many times we have checked her MAP (blood pressure reading), equipment checks, prescription and INR maintenance but it has all been worth it. I wouldn’t trade my caregiver role for the world. It’s made me a better person. Today, in fact, Megan has taken over many of the day-to-day items that I just mentioned, but we run a trust but verify system now. I think it’s super important for Megan to have as much independence as possible and crucial for her mental health. Being able to work her way back to a point where she is in charge of her life is what living is all about. I continue to verify from the background, ask questions, monitor, inspect but I find comfort in knowing that she’s got this routine locked down. I believe that she finds comfort in knowing that I always have her back and it’s never been a burden but only a blessing.