Tam Mei-lan, 86, was out of breath and out of options when she consulted Dr Elaine Chau, a cardiologist at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital.
The health crisis began when sudden chest pain and severe breathlessness landed Tam (whose name has been changed to protect her privacy) in hospital. She had suffered a heart attack because not enough blood was reaching her heart.
Three coronary angioplasties followed, in which a total of eight stents (mesh tubes) were inserted into the arteries leading to her heart to keep them open.
After her third angioplasty, she suffered a sudden cardiac arrest, where blood stopped circulating in her body because her heart failed to contract sufficiently.
Doctors worked frantically to resuscitate her, fracturing a few of her ribs in the process.
But these frightening events were not what vexed Tam the most. She had been enduring sudden and repeated episodes of chest pain and severe breathlessness, especially at night. Fighting for air distressed her so much that she was afraid to sleep.
