It’s not a heart attack...

I know all the symptoms of a heart attack. And I can tell you, heart attack was the last thing going through my head, I wasn’t in pain, I wasn’t having the same symptoms my dad felt…here’s how it went down that night I became an HA survivor….

Earlier that day I, along with my neighbor, Candice, agreed I just have a chest cold.  You know how it feels, right? That aching cough, up high in your lungs, cold air coughing, cold feeling? Candice was right, sawdust, paint fumes, dust are just bothering me – I was in the middle of flipping a house.

The same night we determine I have a cold I decide bed is a good choice.  Later, I wake up with my back aching right between my shoulder blades, Jeff, is massaging but it isn’t releasing any ache this time. I tell him to wake up my sister Lisa, who is visiting.  I keep thinking, I was holding a paint sprayer above my head and standing on a ladder, plus driving a post or two in the ground at the church garden, that’s why I’m aching so bad. Finally, I get up and move to our bathroom, the cold tile floor in the bathroom feels so good just laying on it - I’m so hot and sweaty. Something isn’t right! And, why is Lisa yelling at me? She later said it was because she loved me, ahhh.

I now am convinced something is definitely more wrong than a chest cold.  Going through my head, Jeff is driving to the Emergency Room, is that they are going to tell me I have blood clots in my lungs.  Wow, how the mind can work on you during these scary moments.Then my mind goes to thinking about my boys all my brain keeps thinking is I just don’t feel right, I wish I could just sleep. I’m so wet from sweating, am I going through menopause now, I’m so tired. I can barely stand, thank goodness Jeff has a wheelchair. Did he get a wheelchair?

Finally to the ER, the nurse looks annoyed, like I’ve overdosed on drugs.  No I haven’t taken anything. Wait, I did take a Xanax early in the evening. It’s 2 am!? I took it around 6 at dinner time, I had felt a panic attack coming on. I took a whole pill, they’re low dose, it was a bad attack, I just keep the pills as a security blanket. I don’t ever take them, why are my attacks coming on more? More mind racing thoughts.  

Then, the next thing I remember, ”Mrs. Smith, you’re in the middle of a heart attack. We need to get you to a cath lab immediately.”

Jeffs face I think is registering the same look I must be giving him. I’m actually having a heart attack!!!

”Columbia will be the closest with available room, helicopter is 12 minutes out”

Helicopter!!! The rest is pretty fuzzy, I think my brain finally just said, enough.  I can’t even keep up.

After making it to the University of Missouri Hospital, in Columbia, where my team was amazing. They're prepping me for the cath lab, yes, they prepped not only my wrist, my groin too, did I wear clean underwear, like your mother always tells you to wear just in case. Yes, and I did think about it at the time, seriously your brain doesn’t stop during these moments. I was in and out through the procedure for a stent, there was only one blockage.

I believe the team was surprised, with my numbers, they expected to see more blockage . Here is where I’m definitely my fathers daughter, they’re showing me on the screen of my heart, I asked if I could get a copy, dad and I like getting pictures, he had me take a lot of pics while he was in the hospital, that’s another story. Columbia believed I was 100% blocked in Lebanon, with the ER administering medications before I was airlifted, opened my artery enough to get the stent placed.

I am now out and here to live to tell the tale – from what I remember, and I’m ready to pass on my knowledge.  The biggest takeaway is don’t wait to get help. I had heartburn in the previous few months before my HA. I kept blaming carpel tunnel pain for sharp pains in my arms, would even wake me up at night, it wasn't carpel tunnel pain.  No pain, ache or weird feeling is too minor to get checked out.  The signs aren’t always what we see in the movies and they especially show up differently between men and women.  Click here to read up on the signs of a heart attack.  

Stay healthy, it’s also more than your physical health and diet, your mental health can help trigger as well.  I had the nagging feeling something wasn’t right, even during the day something felt off.

I found a picture the week of my HA and a picture two weeks after, I didn’t even realize how puffy I was before. I kept thinking I was just putting weight on.

There’s no shame in needing help, there’s no shame in taking care of yourself just as you would your loved ones – you are your number one loved one.  So, how are you seasoning your heart for a healthier journey?