Miraculous medical journey
A nurse's life-saving heart surgery and emergency C-section - A tale of teamwork and hope at ProHealth Care
On June 2, 2023, while at home and 37 weeks pregnant, Hayley Zingsheim of Waukesha experienced sudden, throbbing chest pain and difficulty breathing. Her husband immediately drove her to the emergency department at ProHealth Care’s Mukwonago hospital.
Hayley Zingsheim and her family, happy at home after a harrowing and rare medical event. Quick action on the part of multiple ProHealth medical teams saved the lives of Hayley and her unborn daughter.
The medical team detected a problem with Hayley’s heart. Andrew Cardoni, MD, an emergency medicine provider, ordered a CT scan and spoke with Lisa Schmitz, DO, an interventional cardiologist. They agreed that Hayley needed to get to ProHealth Waukesha Memorial Hospital, where interventional cardiology and obstetrics teams would be ready to coordinate next steps.
When she arrived in Waukesha, Hayley was taken directly to an operating room. The goal was to place a stent in the heart artery to restore blood flow and heart rhythm. But the clinical team found that a stent could not be placed. Open heart surgery with general anesthesia became the only option.
Hayley is a clinical professional herself – a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at ProHealth Waukesha Memorial Hospital. “I just remember I said, ‘You’re joking, this isn’t happening.’ My OB assured me that if there were any signs of distress to my baby, she would deliver her.”
Dream teams. The activity was extremely fast-paced in the operating room. “Our cath lab, obstetrics and operating room teams worked quickly to convert to a surgical approach,” Dr. Schmitz said.
Members of the anesthesia, cardiology, obstetrics, cardiothoracic surgery and neonatal intensive care teams were all focused on protecting both Hayley and her unborn baby. “While the heart team was treating Hayley, our OB team was planning who would be doing what, should something happen to the baby,” said Christine Sponagle, MD, an obstetrician and gynecologist.
Dual lifesaving measures. Hayley was placed on a heart-lung bypass machine while the heart team repaired her artery. When monitoring indicated that the baby’s condition was deteriorating, the obstetrics team performed an emergency C-section. An unusual and dramatic scene then unfolded in the operating room as the two surgical teams worked simultaneously.
Awakening. At birth, baby Sunny was intubated and transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). After a few hours, she was able to breathe on her own.
When Hayley awoke in the intensive care unit the next morning, the first thing she saw were photos of Sunny on the walls of her room. “I asked my nurse, signing with my hands, if she could take out my breathing tube,” she said. “Once I was able to talk, I called the nurse practitioner who had been at my delivery and asked her to come down and tell me about my baby.”
Four days after her surgeries, Hayley was discharged. Sunny joined her family at home the next day. “I can’t tell you how thankful I am for all the teams that were there for me and my family and how well they communicated,” Hayley said.
A rare event. Hayley had experienced a spontaneous coronary artery dissection. Her open-heart surgery involved an emergency single-vessel coronary artery bypass graft, or CABG. In this surgery, a blood vessel is taken from the chest, leg or arm and attached to the coronary artery above and below the damaged area.
“Spontaneous coronary artery dissection is a rare event,” said Art Coffey, MD, the cardiothoracic surgeon who operated on Hayley. “When the symptoms hit, they are sudden and severe.”
Teamwork. Dr. Coffey, who also serves as ProHealth’s chief physician operations officer, commended everyone involved. “Every step of the way, teams were collaborating to do what was best for this patient and her baby. I don’t think we could have done it any better.”
After her harrowing health emergency, Hayley is focusing on her family — baby Sunny, her older children, Zander and Jordy, and her husband, Eric.
Hayley has learned that she has no heart condition or defect but will need cardiac checkups in the future.
Continuing our mission. Each day, our patients entrust their health to us. It is an honor to care for them, and we work to ensure that all area residents have access to the health care resources they need.
Over the years, donors have allowed us to continue our mission. In fact, the community has helped make many projects a reality at ProHealth Care — ProHealth AngelsGrace Hospice, the cancer center in Pewaukee, the heart and vascular center in Waukesha, and the renovation of the neonatal intensive care unit at Waukesha Memorial Hospital, which is currently underway.
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