Above All Have Faith Miracles Do Happen

Having been a fitness professional my entire life, the surgeons described me as the perfect candidate. After a series of back injuries, rather than have a lumbar fusion I entered Johnson & Johnson's phase 3 clinical trial for their SB Charite artificial spinal disc.

One of the first patients in the U.S. to receive such a device, I had what researchers described as a catastrophic failure when the experimental metal disc slipped out the front of my spine.

The surgeons explained I was facing "imminent death”, my odds of survival were not good, and I should get my affairs in order. Which of course I did my best to do, making the most surreal phone calls, saying goodbye to friends and loved ones.

The team would attempt a surgery they really didn’t want to do because my chances of surviving the surgery itself were so small (the percentage chance of survival they quoted was insanely low), but it was my only chance. 

Aside from the lumbar plexus and nerve damage I’d sustain at the base of my spine, a main concern was my inferior vena cava, the single life-sustaining vein that returns all the blood from your lower body back to your heart. They knew this is where my injuries would become most life-threatening.   To survey the extent of the damage, the surgical team immediately performed an emergency angiogram/venogram.

I was cold and laying awake on a steel table. My brilliant vascular surgeon Samir Saiedy inserted a catheter in my left groin. He immediately met a blockage. I didn't realize there was a problem until he started to jab this catheter repeated into my groin with no success.

"Since I can't get in from the left, I'm going to do what they call an 'up and over'" he says. "I'm going in your groin from the right side, go up and over then back down on the left side to see if I can get through." The catheter went in my right groin. Up and over, jab jab jab. No luck getting through.

Saiedy's demeanor began to change. He asks his team "I don't understand. His vena cava is completely blocked." He knew I shouldn't be conscious, and wouldn't be for long. As a longshot, he asks "did any of his records or radiology show a double vena cava?" "No sir, no records show a duplicate vena cava" the nurse answered. Saidey was obviously concerned. "Let's get him cleaned up. We'll discuss this with the team and come up with a plan."

The only explanation would be a duplicate vena cava, an uncommon congenital abnormality occurring in less than 2% of the population.  The surgeons noted I’d had countless scans over the years with no indication of a duplicate vena cava.

Astonishingly, long after all these events, on an unrelated CT scan a radiologist noted a duplicate vena cava. It's shown up on every scan since.

In 2022, I flew to Philadelphia to a specialized vascular surgeon to correct some remnant damage to my vena cava that was still threatening my life. Looking at my CT scan on a 52” monitor, he pointed out both my primary and duplicate vena cavas. His opinion was a likely congenital condition that definitely saved my life.

Being witness to this miracle; one of the many reasons I am thankful, sincerely grateful this unexpected journey happened to me, not to someone less fortunate.

✨Namaste and Shine-on!✨

- Darren

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