Tess Robinson sat in the foyer of her Negril, Jamaica, resort's spa, waiting for her manicure and pedicure. Josh Oiler, her seven-year lover, and she were finally being married that evening at sunset.
COVID-19 had already thrown a wedding off schedule. The couple, who live in Norwich, Ohio, and had previously married, wanted to treat themselves to a private destination wedding this time.
Robinson began to feel nauseated and wobbly as she waited, wearing a T-shirt with the word "bride" splattered across the front. She reasoned that she may be dehydrated.
She sipped some water, but it was ineffective.
In the center of her chest, a sharp ache began. It became a lot worse. Then it became intolerable.
Robinson, on the other hand, was acutely aware of the suffering.
She had felt it many times during one night a month prior. It only stopped when she knelt on the floor and pressed her head into her chest. When the condition went away, she and Oiler chalked it up to indigestion.
Robinson has encountered other strange sensations in the previous six months. They looked unconnected since they were so dissimilar and unpredictable.
Robinson, a florist, started by raising her left arm. In the area surrounding her clavicle and shoulder, she'd experience a searing discomfort. She couldn't always raise her arm because of the agony. She was also nauseated at times.
Robinson sought treatment for her arm from an orthopedist, a chiropractor, and a massage therapist. They all had their own theories. She was referred to a cardiologist by the orthopedist, which seemed superfluous for a 36-year-old woman in good health who had never smoked. However, there was a little family history. At the age of 53, her paternal grandmother suffered a massive heart attack, which was followed by a series of lesser heart attacks and strokes over the next two decades. (She lived to be 77 years old.) Robinson wrote it down in her primary care physician's papers, but she didn't think about it at the time.
Despite this, Robinson requested an ECG from her doctor. The findings were normal a month before the wedding.
The manicurist arrived at the Jamaican spa to collect the bride-to-be.
Robinson began to weep at this time because the agony was so great.
"Don't worry," the woman murmured as she handed her a washcloth perfumed with lemongrass. "On your wedding day, you're just nervous."
Robinson stated that this was not the case, then knelt in the crouched posture that had helped her when the stabbing pain occurred in the middle of the night. It was ineffective.
A nurse from the resort was summoned. A doctor was dispatched from Montego Bay, which was two hours distant. Oiler was summoned.
A spa staff informed him that his wife was suffering from chest symptoms.
Robinson was experiencing a heart attack, according to the doctor's portable EKG. For the agony, he gave her morphine. It didn't make any difference.
He requested an ambulance, but only until the $900 transaction on Oiler's credit card had cleared.
Then there was still another pause. A holiday event delayed the ambulance down by clogging the streets with revelers and vehicles.
Nitroglycerin pills were given to her by EMTs to widen her arteries and enhance blood flow to her heart. Only until Oiler placed another $6,000 on his credit card was she admitted to the hospital.
To inspect Robinson, emergency room personnel cut up her "wedding" T-shirt. However, they lacked the necessary experience and equipment to validating a diagnosis. This would need the use of an ambulance or an airlift to Kingston or Miami. And each of those would necessitate a larger initial investment.
Oiler sought guidance from a cardiologist in Zanesville, the city where he and Robinson both worked. He also initiated an internet fundraising drive, which raised about $44,000 in the end.
They chose to fly instead of driving since the flight to Miami would take roughly the same amount of time as the journey to Kingston. It cost roughly $18,000, and their travel insurance didn't cover it.
Robinson had been in pain at the spa for three days by the time he arrived at the Miami hospital. A doctor added as she and Oiler described the multiple painful occurrences over the previous six months, "Look up symptoms of heart attacks in women' on the internet. Yours are timeless."
A heart attack was verified by a cardiac catheterization technique. One of her heart's major arteries has a 99 percent blockage. With the use of a stent, doctors were able to open it up.
In the United States, heart disease is the leading cause of mortality, killing more women each year than all types of cancer combined.
Doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. Their best estimate was that it was caused by a pregnancy problem that resulted in excessive blood pressure. (Robinson has two daughters from previous marriages, while Oiler has a son and a daughter.)
Robinson was released from the hospital two days after obtaining the stent. In a rented automobile, the pair took their time going to Ohio.
Robinson began cardiac rehab a week later and attended three times a week for four months.
"It was great to see my strength grow from the beginning to the conclusion," she remarked.
Robinson was still gloomy. She retreated from the company of others. As she grappled with her new identity as a heart attack survivor, she felt sorry for herself.
There's also the fact that she isn't married.
Despite the fact that the pair have begun wearing their rings, they have yet to exchange vows.
They haven't set a date yet. They do, however, know where it will not be.
"Jamaica was very stunning," Robinson remarked, "but we determined never to fly internationally again."
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