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I have been home from the hospital for the last 3 days after suffering a heart attack. I have been involved in an experimental drug test for weight loss and when I went on Wednesday, I stated that I started to have some indigestion. Since I was next door to my physician's office, I told the woman, I was going next door to see if I could get an appointment so I could get something for it.
When I arrived at my physician's office, I told them I was having interrmittent "burning" pain in the area below my throat and it felt as though it was indigestion. No radiation to any other part of my body...B/P maintained normal at 122/73, just like it has been for years. my heart rate was elevated at 88 from my normal 76.
They did an EKG and found very slight changes from 6 wks ago. they called an ambulance and before you know it I was at the hospital. This was at 8:30 am.
12 Noon, I was having a cardiac cath with subsequent angioplasty for a 99% blockage of the LAD ( left anterior descending coronary artery) The entire front of the heart. Also called the widow maker!
I don't (didn't) take any meds, I don't really have a medical history, except my father had the same thing at my age, but he had hypertension. He never smoked or drank. I smoke less than 1 pack day and am about 30 lbs overweight. The cardiologist and physician's did not think that was enough for an almost complete blockage of a major coronary artery.
The point I am trying to make is that I had absolutely no warning signs that I was in this much trouble. We had just spent several days on vacation, walking about 5-6 miles/day with no problems. I carried one of the suitcases up the stairs without any CP.
Women, many times do not have any warnings signs and present very differently than men do when having a heart attack.
They told me that most times, there are no warning signs. All my bloodwork was good, all within normal limts, but the doc stated now that I've been diagnosed with CAD (coronary Arterty Disease) the bar has been lowered drastically and what once was normal is now high.
So, for all the women out there...get a check-up and if you feel like you have indigestion or gas, go to the physician. If I wasn't next door to the physician's office that day, I wouldn't have made a special trip to go there and would have continued to take Tums, which was working well to take away the pain.
I am very lucky...
When I arrived at my physician's office, I told them I was having interrmittent "burning" pain in the area below my throat and it felt as though it was indigestion. No radiation to any other part of my body...B/P maintained normal at 122/73, just like it has been for years. my heart rate was elevated at 88 from my normal 76.
They did an EKG and found very slight changes from 6 wks ago. they called an ambulance and before you know it I was at the hospital. This was at 8:30 am.
12 Noon, I was having a cardiac cath with subsequent angioplasty for a 99% blockage of the LAD ( left anterior descending coronary artery) The entire front of the heart. Also called the widow maker!
I don't (didn't) take any meds, I don't really have a medical history, except my father had the same thing at my age, but he had hypertension. He never smoked or drank. I smoke less than 1 pack day and am about 30 lbs overweight. The cardiologist and physician's did not think that was enough for an almost complete blockage of a major coronary artery.
The point I am trying to make is that I had absolutely no warning signs that I was in this much trouble. We had just spent several days on vacation, walking about 5-6 miles/day with no problems. I carried one of the suitcases up the stairs without any CP.
Women, many times do not have any warnings signs and present very differently than men do when having a heart attack.
They told me that most times, there are no warning signs. All my bloodwork was good, all within normal limts, but the doc stated now that I've been diagnosed with CAD (coronary Arterty Disease) the bar has been lowered drastically and what once was normal is now high.
So, for all the women out there...get a check-up and if you feel like you have indigestion or gas, go to the physician. If I wasn't next door to the physician's office that day, I wouldn't have made a special trip to go there and would have continued to take Tums, which was working well to take away the pain.
I am very lucky...
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