Resilience of the Heart: Yulia’s Journey from Life-Saving Surgery to Joyful Reunion
In the predawn quiet of a May morning, Yulia Nurikyan awoke with a strange heaviness in her throat. At 38 weeks pregnant, she dismissed the discomfort as another late-pregnancy quirk – until a wave of dizziness hit. Moments later, darkness closed in as Yulia collapsed on her bedroom floor. Her husband, Antoan, jolted awake to a terrifying sight: his wife unconscious, carrying their almost-term baby. With trembling hands he dialed 911, and within minutes flashing lights cut through the dawn, rushing Yulia to the emergency room. Neither of them yet knew that Yulia’s heart was fighting a deadly crisis, or that the day which was to mark their child’s birth would also test a mother’s courage in unimaginable ways.
A Hidden Danger Revealed
At Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, doctors raced to determine what had caused an otherwise healthy 33-year-old expectant mother to faint without warning. Yulia, regaining consciousness amid the chaos, remembered something crucial – her own father had died suddenly of an aortic dissection in his 40s. She told the medical team about her family history, sparking immediate concern. A CT scan soon confirmed Yulia’s fear: she had a bicuspid aortic valve, a congenital defect that often leads to an aortic aneurysm – a dangerous bulging in the body’s main artery. Yulia’s aorta, the scan showed, was severely enlarged and on the brink of tearing. An aortic dissection is a life-threatening rupture of the inner aortic wall, a condition that often strikes without warning and can be fatal if not swiftly treated. In Yulia’s case, her doctors realized with alarm that the immense strain of late pregnancy had pushed her weakened aorta to its limit. She was essentially a walking time bomb – one with a baby due any day.
Yulia’s care team knew there was not a moment to spare. In the same hospital where she’d planned to welcome her child, a team performed an emergency C-section to deliver her baby girl two weeks early. The baby, Livia, came crying into the world and was whisked to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) because of fluid in her lungs. Yulia, though exhausted and in pain from major surgery, held her newborn daughter for only a few precious minutes. She memorized Livia’s tiny face and whispered a promise to see her again soon. Then doctors sedated Yulia and prepped her for a second, even more critical operation: the open-heart surgery that would save her life.
A Birth and a Life-Saving Surgery Amid a Pandemic
Ambulances transferred Yulia across town to The Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, where a top cardiothoracic surgical team stood by. It was mid-May 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic’s first wave had New York City hospitals stretched thin. By extraordinary fortune, Mount Sinai had just recruited Dr. Ismail El-Hamamsy, a world-renowned aortic surgeon, and Yulia’s crisis would become his urgent mission. “In cardiac surgery, this situation is at the top of the list of emergencies,” Dr. El-Hamamsy said, recognizing that Yulia was suffering an acute Type A aortic dissection. He and his team raced Yulia into the operating room as soon as she arrived.
Yulia Nurikyan in her hospital room with Dr. Ismail El-Hamamsy (left) and Dr. Percy Boateng (right) after her life-saving aortic surgery. Both surgeons worked swiftly to repair Yulia’s rupturing aorta, an emergency procedure performed under extraordinary pandemic conditions.
During a complex hours-long operation, surgeons carefully removed the damaged section of Yulia’s aorta, just inches from her heart, and replaced it with a synthetic graft. In the same procedure, they reinforced her bicuspid aortic valve, sparing it so that Yulia wouldn’t require a mechanical replacement or lifelong medications. Outside the OR, Antoan waited in agony for news, unable to be by his wife’s side. COVID-19 protocols forbade visitors, so he could only pray and wait by the phone for updates. It was a surreal twist of fate: hours earlier, he’d been an expectant father installing a car seat for Livia’s planned arrival, and now he was a terrified husband facing the possibility of losing the love of his life.
At last, the call came – the surgeons had succeeded. Yulia’s heart was mended and beating strong, her life pulled back from the brink. The staff later marveled at how every factor aligned to save her: Yulia’s quick action and knowledge of her family history, the swift coordination between hospitals, and having precisely the right specialists available at the crucial moment. By evening, Yulia awoke in the ICU, groggy from anesthesia and intubation. Her first conscious thought was of her baby. Was Livia safe? Who was holding her? The only familiar face in the room was a nurse in full protective gear. Yulia’s fingers instinctively reached for the space where her newborn should have been. In that fragile moment, this new mother’s actual test began.
The Longest Week: Recovery in Isolation
When Yulia opened her eyes in the cardiac ICU, she found herself utterly alone. Due to pandemic restrictions, Antoan had to leave the hospital before she even woke up from surgery. The usual comforts that follow a major operation – a loved one squeezing your hand at bedside, a family member ensuring you eat or sharing a smile – were denied to her. Yulia’s only companions were beeping monitors and the compassionate eyes of nurses hidden behind masks. And there was a deeper ache: her arms were empty. Baby Livia remained at Elmhurst Hospital’s NICU, recovering from birth complications, while her mother recovered at Mount Sinai. Mother and daughter healed in separate hospitals for one long week, and Antoan was barred from visiting either of them due to strict safety rules. “It was so hard not being together,” Yulia later reflected. Hospital staff arranged video calls so Yulia could see her newborn’s face on a screen – a small comfort that brought both tears and motivation. In those calls, she would sing softly to Livia through an iPad, imagining she cradled her in person.
That week was a study in resilience. Physically, Yulia was grappling with the aftermath of two surgeries – a healing C-section incision and a healing sternotomy in her chest. Every breath and movement reminded her of what her body had endured. Open-heart surgery recovery is arduous; doctors cautioned it could take 4 to 6 weeks to start feeling “normal” again. Yulia experienced the expected pains and sorrows – chest tightness, weakness, and waves of hormonal emotion. It’s normal for heart surgery patients to have mood swings or sadness during recovery, and being a postpartum mother separated from her baby only amplified those feelings. Research later showed that such visitor restrictions during COVID-19 had real consequences: patients left isolated suffered greater loneliness and even physical setbacks. At the same time, parents of NICU infants reported difficulty bonding with their newborns. Yulia fought hard against those effects. She reminded herself that Livia needed her to get stronger. Each day in the hospital, she focused on small goals – sitting up, taking a few steps, and eating more. “Follow this simple formula: when rested, be active; when tired, rest,” her care team advised. Slowly but steadily, Yulia gained strength. Nurses later said she always tried to smile, even when tears weren’t far from the surface. Her positive attitude became its own medicine. “100 percent, the mind–body connection… half the recovery is in the head,” Dr. El-Hamamsy observed, emphasizing how Yulia’s hopeful mindset helped her heal.
What truly kept Yulia going was an image she clung to in her heart: the moment she would finally hold Livia again. My baby is getting me through this, she told herself. When asked how she managed, Yulia said, “My baby was the one who got me through it,”. The thought of reuniting with her little girl became a lifeline. In phone calls, Antoan reassured Yulia that Livia was improving in NICU and that he was holding up, too, though he was suffering through the same painful separation. They found strength in sharing hopeful news: Livia’s lungs were clearing, Yulia’s incision was stable, and vital signs were improving. Each sunset closed one day of separation; each sunrise brought them closer to being a family together.
A Reunion of Tears and Joy
On the morning of May 23, one week after her ordeal began, Yulia sat in a wheelchair by the hospital entrance, her heart fluttering with anticipation. Discharged at last, she wore a mask over her face and clutched a bouquet the nurses had given her – a celebratory splash of color for the day she would finally bring her baby home. Antoan’s car pulled up, and he practically leapt out to embrace his wife. Even through their masks, the joy on their faces was radiant. “Let’s go get our girl,” he said, eyes bright with tears. They drove straight to Elmhurst Hospital, where baby Livia was waiting, healthy enough to leave the NICU.
Yulia and her husband, Antoan, finally reunite with baby Livia after a week apart, preparing to bring their daughter home. Despite the masks obscuring their smiles, the relief and joy in this moment were immeasurable.
Yulia’s hands trembled as a nurse placed Livia, now a tiny bundle of pink blankets, into her arms. All the emotion of the past week poured out. Yulia wept softly into her daughter’s cap, whispering “Mama’s here, Mama’s got you,” while Antoan wrapped his arms around them. The reunion was pure catharsis. “Now I feel awesome, now I have my baby,” Yulia said, overwhelmed with gratitude. She had dreamt of this homecoming through every dark hour apart – walking through our front door, the three of us together at last. “I dreamt of that moment that my husband and I would come home [with our baby],” Yulia said of the scene before her. In that instant, all the pain and fear she’d endured were eclipsed by love. Neighbors who knew of Yulia’s ordeal cheered from a distance as the family arrived home in Queens. A big hand-painted banner reading “Welcome Home” fluttered from their porch. Yulia pressed Livia to her chest, mindful of her healing sternum but needing to feel her baby’s warmth. Despite her physical tenderness, her heart felt stronger than ever, not just repaired by surgeons but fortified by hope and determination.
Yulia continued to recover in the following weeks, now with her newborn at her side and her husband’s steady support. Caring for a brand-new baby while mending from open-heart surgery wasn’t the postpartum experience Yulia had imagined, but every challenge felt surmountable now. She and Antoan took turns feeding and diapering Livia, careful that Yulia not lift anything too heavy (even a squirming infant can exceed the weight a healing sternum should bear). Family and friends, who could not visit in person due to ongoing pandemic concerns, arranged meal drop-offs and Zoom calls to encourage the new parents. Yulia’s mother, stuck overseas by travel bans, sang a Bulgarian lullaby through the phone to calm Livia on a fussy night. It was not the typical picture of bringing a newborn home, but it was their story – one defined by perseverance and abundant love.
Doctors frequently checked Yulia’s mending heart in those early weeks and were delighted with her progress. Her surgical scars faded gradually, and her confidence grew every day. More than one medical team member remarked that Yulia’s upbeat spirit was a driving force in her recovery. She glowed whenever she held Livia, reminding her why she fought so hard to live. Yulia herself felt profound gratitude for the expert clinicians who saved her, the husband who never faltered in her support, and the tiny daughter who gave her the courage to push through the darkest hours. “Someone is watching over us,” Yulia said, believing that her family had witnessed nothing short of a miracle.
A New Chapter of Hope
Yulia Nurikyan’s story is a testament to a mother’s strength and the human heart’s incredible resilience. In a week, she endured what many might experience over a lifetime: a sudden health crisis, major surgery, separation from family, and the intense emotions of childbirth – all under the cloud of a global pandemic. Yet she emerged not only surviving but truly thriving. Her heart is now healthy, her baby thriving, and her home filled with the laughter and sleepless nights accompanying new parenthood. Yulia’s journey illustrates that hope and determination can carry you through even when a situation looks impossibly dire. The scars on her chest are a reminder of hardship, but also healing – a badge of survival and a source of pride.
For anyone facing a similar challenge – be it a health scare, a difficult recovery, or an isolating obstacle – Yulia’s experience shines a light forward. She would be the first to say that you can find strength you never knew you had, and that brighter days will come. Leaning on loved ones (even if by phone), keeping a positive mindset, and taking recovery one day at a time were key to her triumph. Her doctors and nurses provided world-class medical care and compassion, proving that healing is about both the body and the spirit.
Indeed, stories like Yulia’s remind us that while we cannot choose the challenges we face, we can choose how we respond to them. With courage, support, and knowledge, we tilt the odds in favor of a happy outcome. Resources that share such survivor wisdom can make a difference. For example, Cardio Natural’s free eBook Surviving & Thriving is a powerful guide inspired by real-life recoveries and backed by expert insights. It offers practical tips for heart health recovery – from managing stress to rebuilding physical strength – and echoes the uplifting message at the core of Yulia’s story: that it is possible to survive a heart crisis and truly thrive afterward. In Yulia’s new chapter, baby Livia’s heartbeat and giggle prove that truth. Her journey from a harrowing crisis to an inspiring comeback shows that one can transform the darkest of times into a celebration of life with a strong heart and unyielding hope.
Sources:
Mount Sinai Hospital – Patient Story of Yulia Nurikyan. mountsinai.orghealth.mountsinai.org
Mount Sinai Health Blog – First-Time Mother Receives Life-Saving Aortic Surgery health.mountsinai.org
ABC7 News – Miracle reunion: Mother and newborn reunited after emergency C-section, heart surgery. abc7ny.comabc7ny.com
American Heart Association – Heart Surgery Recovery Guidelines. heart.orgheart.org
Journal of Neonatal Nursing – Impact of COVID-19 Visitor Restrictions. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
