MAYDAY

FEMALE HEART ATTACKS
>
>         Women and heart attacks (Myocardial Infarction).
>
>         I was aware that female heart attacks are different, but this is
the
> Best description I’ve ever read.
>
>         Did you know that women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms
that
> men have when experiencing heart attack…you know, the sudden stabbing
pain
> in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest and dropping to the floor
> that we see in the movies.
>         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
have
> brought it on. I was sitting all snugly and warm on a cold evening, with
my
> purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me,
> and actually thinking, A-A-h, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my
> soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up. 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 like you’ve swallowed a golf ball going down the
> oesophagus 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 drink 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 (hind-sight: 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.
>
>
>
>         AHA!! 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 and the cat, ‘Dear God, I
> think I’m having a heart attack!’ I lowered the foot rest, dumping the cat
> from my lap, 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 moment.’
>
>
>
>         I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into
> the next room and dialled the Paramedics. I told her 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 stating 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 into their  ambulance, or hearing the call they
made
> to St. Jude ER 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 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
> stents to hold open my right coronary artery.
>
>
>
>          I know it sounds like 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 both the fire station and
St.
> Jude 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
> stents.
>
>
>
>         Why have I written all of this to you with so much detail? Because
I
> want all of you who are so important in my life to know what I learned
first
> hand.
>
>
>
>         1. Be aware that something very different is happening in your
body
> not the usual men’s symptoms, but explicable things happening (until my
> sternum and jaws got into the act). It is said that many more women than
men
> die of their first (and last) MI because they didn’t know they were having
> one, and commonly mistake it as indigestion, take some Maalox or other
> anti-heartburn preparation, and go to bed, hoping they’ll feel better in
the
> morning when they wake up….which doesn’t happen. My female friends, your
> symptoms might not be exactly like mine, so I advise you to call the
> Paramedics if ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you’ve not felt
> before. It is better to have a ‘false alarm’ visitation than to risk your
> life guessing what it might be!
>
>
>
>         2. Note that I said ‘Call the Paramedics.’ Ladies, TIME IS OF THE
> ESSENCE!
>
>         Do NOT try to drive yourself to the ER–you’re a hazard to others
on
> the road, and so is your panicked husband who will be speeding and looking
> anxiously at what’s happening with you instead of the road. Do NOT call
your
> doctor, he doesn’t know where you live and if it’s at night you won’t
reach
> him anyway, and if it’s daytime, his assistants (or  answering service)
will
> tell you to call the Paramedics. He doesn’t carry the equipment in his car
> that you need to be saved! The Paramedics do.
>
>         Principally OXYGEN that you need ASAP. Your Dr. will be notified
> later.
>
>
>
>         3. Don’t assume it couldn’t be a heart attack because you have a
> normal cholesterol count. Research has  discovered that cholesterol
elevated
> reading  is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it’s unbelievably high,
and/or
> accompanied by high blood pressure). MI’s are usually caused by long-term
> stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly
> hormones into your system to sludge things up in there.
>
>
>
>         Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let’s be careful
> and be aware.
>
>         The more we know, the better chance we could survive.