I was 280lbs. and had untreated hypertension (I'm a lawyer). I had been on my feet teaching a legal seminar for 2 straight days (13+ hours a day) with 1/2 day remaining. Prior to the start of the class, I had been out in the desert two days before in 113F heat touring around in Southern California. Travel, weight, hypertension, stress. It's a toxic brew. I will say this: two years before the dissection happened I woke up in the middle of the night from a dead sleep. I felt what seemed like a sudden, huge electrical shock directly in my chest right where my aorta leaves my heart. I got up and chewed two aspirin because I thought it was a heart attack. It felt like a giant bumble bee inside my chest. I was afraid to tell my spouse because I didn't want to scare her. I stayed awake for about 2 hours, ready to call 911. Nothing more happened so I just pretended nothing had happened and went back to sleep. Now, I know that that was the beginning of a very serious aortic dissection. I should have called 911 and immediately had a CT scan with contrast. I owed it to my family. It would have shown the aneurysm and I could have dealt with the surgery in a much more orderly way. Instead, my aorta blew out at a Marriott 1,600 miles from home with my wife and kids left to wonder if I was going to survive. I spent weeks in a coma, had a stroke, and a $1.4 million hospital bill. Not good. Don't ignore this condition. Don't panic, but don't ignore. It's so much easier, better, safer, and more survivable to have a planned open heart surgery than an emergent one.