Women And Heart Attacks

Author: Vida Curnutt

Here is the story of one woman's experience with a heart attack.

"I had a completely unexpected heart attack at about 10:30 pm with NO prior exertion; NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might’ve brought it on. I was sitting all snugly and warm on a cold evening, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me. A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, when you’ve been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite seems to feel as if you’ve swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in slow motion, and it is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn't have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly, and this time drinks a glass of water to hasten its progress down to the stomach. This was my initial sensation-the only trouble was that I hadn’t taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 p.m.
After that had seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up my SPINE (hindsight, it was probably my aorta spasming), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when administering CPR). This fascinating process continued on into my throat and branched out into both jaws.
AAH!! NOW I stopped puzzling about what was happening. We all have read and/or heard about pain in the jaws being one of the signals of an MI happening, haven't we? I said aloud to myself, "Dear God, I think I'm having a heart attack!"
I lowered the foot rest, started to take a step and fell on the floor instead I thought to myself "If this is a heart attack, I shouldn't be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else but, on the other hand, if I don't, nobody will know that I need help, and if I wait any longer I may not be able to get up in another moment".
I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next room and dialed the paramedics ... I told the lady who answered that I thought I was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into my jaws. I didn't feel hysterical or afraid, just stated the facts. She said she was sending the paramedics over immediately, asked if the front door was near to me, and if so, to unbolt the door and then lie down on the floor where they could see me when they came in.
I then laid down on the floor as instructed and lost consciousness, as I don't remember the medics coming in, their examination, lifting me onto a gurney or getting me in to their ambulance, or hearing the call they made on the way, but I did briefly awaken when we arrived and saw that the cardiologist was already there in his surgical blues and cap, helping the medics pull my stretcher out of the ambulance. He was bending over me asking questions (probably something like "Have you taken any medications?") but I couldn't make my mind interpret what he was saying, or form an answer, and nodded off again, not waking up until the cardiologist and his partner had already threaded the teeny angiogram balloon up my femoral artery into the aorta and into my heart where they installed 2 side by side stints to hold open my right coronary artery.
I know it sounds as if all my thinking and actions at home must have taken at least 20-30 minutes before calling the paramedics, but actually it took perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, and they are only minutes away from my home, and my cardiologist was already to go to the OR in his scrubs and get going on restarting my heart (which had stopped somewhere between my arrival and the procedure) and installing the stints”.
Why have I written all of this to you with so much detail? The more we know the better chance we could survive.

People who suffer illnesses or tragedies unfortunately set themselves up, saying, “It can’t happen to me”. It can happen to any of us, which is why we should take the steps in our youth to prevent illnesses and tragedies.

Exercise is the leading element we have offered to us in life that helps to reduce any disease, emotional reactions and so on. When you sit around feeling anxious, depressed, you are working toward worse health conditions. Reverse your actions and take the steps live longer by exercising each day.

Visit http://curvid.bezoogle.com/pp/weight-loss/ or http://vida-healthy-aging.blogspot.com/ for more information.

About the Author:

entrepreneur who loves to write on various topics

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Women And Heart Attacks