Gratitude Stories - Aimee
New mom got the care she needed when she needed it most.
On-and-off for about a month this past summer, Aimee Clark wasn’t feeling well. She experienced nausea, vomiting, and upper abdominal pain. At first, the new mom from Cranston, Rhode Island, thought it might be acid reflux related. She tried medication for that, but it didn’t help. Her condition continued to worsen overtime, eventually landing her in the emergency department at The Miriam.
There, Aimee was administered a battery of tests, ruling out a number of conditions including cancer, issues with her gall bladder, an autoimmune disease, and infection. Fortunately, the combination of diagnostic imaging conducted by her care team identified the source of Aimee’s discomfort. She had a large pericardial effusion—a potentially life-threatening condition caused by the accumulation of excess fluid around the heart.
Aimee would need an elevated level of care, and she would need it quickly.
From the ED, Aimee was moved to The Miriam’s catheterization lab where she underwent a specialized, minimally invasive procedure. This consisted of a needle—guided by echocardiogram imaging to ensure preciseness—being placed in the sac around her heart and a small, flexible tube removing a liter of excess fluid. The procedure was successful, and ultrasounds post-op confirmed no fluid built up again.
In total, Aimee spent four days at The Miriam and is grateful for the care she received. “My stay was as good as an unplanned hospitalization could possibly be,” she explains. “Everyone was kind, empathetic, and compassionate, and they effortlessly comforted me and reassured me that everything was going to be ok during a very scary time. The doctors explained my procedure very well too, so that me and my husband Don had a full understanding of what was going to happen. This allowed us to put some of our anxiety at ease.”
These days, Aimee says she feels great and is back to enjoying family time and taking care of her daughter, Maeve, who is now nearly a year old. “It’s like nothing happened,” she says.
But a lot did happen. She got the care she needed when she needed it from her exceptional team of doctors, nurses, and support staff at The Miriam.