Around 7 p.m. — about two hours after we arrived — doctors explained our mother had an aortic dissection, a tear in the body's largest artery. She was rushed into emergency surgery, which lasted until 4 a.m.That night, Julio and I were just worried about whether our mother would make it. Watching our mom go through emergency surgery was terrible. We decided, with our doctor's blessing, to do the surgery on the same day. After seeing our sisters and mother go through emergency surgery, just waking up each day and seeing the sunshine is a blessing.

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Persons: Pablo Delcid, Julio, isn't, Benjamin van Boxtel, van Boxtel, We're, we'll Organizations: Atlantic Health, Morristown Medical Center Locations: New Jersey, Morristown