In August 2023, Chelsea Cresencia embarked on her first adventure to the East Coast, traveling from California to New York City with her boyfriend, Allen Nguyen. Their trip was filled with excitement, delicious food, and sightseeing, including a stroll through the Chelsea district, which Cresencia found particularly special due to its name. However, what started as a fun-filled vacation quickly turned into a medical nightmare.
Shortly after arriving in New York, Cresencia began experiencing severe gastrointestinal issues, including persistent vomiting after nearly every meal. She also faced debilitating shortness of breath, a lingering issue since 2018, which intensified to the point where she struggled to walk for more than 10 minutes without needing to rest. Alongside these symptoms, she also began to cough uncontrollably. “We initially thought it was food poisoning and dismissed it,” Cresencia, now 27 and a user experience manager for a health insurance company, recalled. “But the vomiting happened daily, and sometimes I coughed up blood,” added Nguyen, 28, a software engineer. Despite the alarming symptoms, the couple continued their trip but limited their activities and returned home to San Diego at the week's end.
Upon returning to San Diego, Cresencia noticed a slight improvement; her symptoms seemed to ease, and she went days without vomiting. “I convinced myself that it had to be something about New York,” she remarked. However, during a visit to Nguyen in the San Francisco Bay Area, she developed a concerning new symptom: severely swollen feet, which were filled with fluid but not painful. Following this alarming development, Nguyen took her to an urgent care facility, where a series of tests, including a CT scan, revealed a shocking discovery: a mass on her heart.
The discovery left Cresencia in a state of fear and confusion. “My heart dropped,” she recalled. “I was terrified. How did this happen? Did I have cancer?” This revelation marked the beginning of a challenging and emotional journey to uncover the nature of the mass, which included a life-threatening biopsy and a radical surgery that ultimately saved her life.
For years, Cresencia had been living with shortness of breath, often attributing it to minor issues or the strain of walking uphill. However, the New York trip exacerbated her condition, prompting her to seek medical attention. At the urgent care, doctors expressed concern over the mass identified in the CT scan and recommended immediate hospitalization. After a six-hour wait at a local community hospital, Cresencia was admitted, and the following day underwent a transesophageal echocardiogram. The test revealed a significant growth in her left atrium, which doctors believed was linked to her alarming symptoms.
Following the echocardiogram, Cresencia was advised to seek specialized care at a larger facility. A week later, at another hospital in San Diego, further tests indicated not only the presence of the mass but also potential “holes in my lungs.” The medical team suggested that she might require a heart-lung transplant. However, at Jacobs Medical Center at UC San Diego Health, specialists clarified that there were no holes in her lungs but suspected she had a rare form of heart cancer known as angiosarcoma.
Angiosarcoma is a severe cancer that originates in the lining of blood vessels and poses a grim prognosis. Cresencia's cardiologist, Marcus Urey, decided to confirm the diagnosis through a biopsy, but the procedure faced complications that led to Cresencia's heart experiencing circulatory collapse. In a critical condition, she was placed on an ECMO machine for 10 days until her stability was restored, after which doctors resolved to perform surgery to remove the mass.
Cresencia's surgery lasted nearly 10 hours and involved a skilled team of medical professionals. During the procedure, her heart was temporarily removed, and the mass was excised. Surprisingly, the mass did not resemble the anticipated angiosarcoma. Instead, it appeared hard and leathery, raising immediate questions about its nature. Pathologists subsequently identified the mass as a proliferation of histiocytes, leading to a diagnosis of Rosai-Dorfman disease, an exceptionally rare condition affecting the immune system.
Cresencia's journey post-surgery has been one of gratitude and relief. With a follow-up plan that includes periodic MRIs to monitor for recurrence, she has expressed immense appreciation for the medical team at UC San Diego for their expertise and compassion. In February, she and Nguyen returned to New York for a “redemption trip,” where they joyfully explored the city without any health issues. “I have learned to cherish every moment and every new experience,” Cresencia remarked, reflecting on her journey of survival and resilience.
From a vacation filled with excitement to a life-altering medical crisis, Chelsea Cresencia's story serves as a reminder of the unpredictability of health and the importance of seeking timely medical attention. Her experience highlights the need for awareness of rare conditions like Rosai-Dorfman disease and the critical role of medical professionals in diagnosing and treating complex health issues.
