Woman's Heart Attack
This is an amazing story. a woman just passed away recently with a
heart attack. She said she didn't feel well and had a backache and was
going to lay down on the bed with the heating pad. A while later her
husband went to check on her and she was not breathing. They were not
able to revive her. This is something we women should definitely take
seriously. Please pass this on to those you love.
I was aware that female heart attacks are different, but this is the
best description I've ever read on Women and heart attacks -
Myocardial infarction (MI).
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've brought it on. I was sitting all snugly & warm on a cold
evening, with my purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my
friend had sent me, and actually thinking, 'Aah, this is the life, 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
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 drink a glass of water t 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. I
pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the
next room and dialed 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 Idid 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 inexplicable 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 a 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...
4. A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this mail sends it to 10 people, you
can be sure that we'll save at least one life.
**Please be a true friend and send this article to all you love.**
This is an amazing story. a woman just passed away recently with a
heart attack. She said she didn't feel well and had a backache and was
going to lay down on the bed with the heating pad. A while later her
husband went to check on her and she was not breathing. They were not
able to revive her. This is something we women should definitely take
seriously. Please pass this on to those you love.
I was aware that female heart attacks are different, but this is the
best description I've ever read on Women and heart attacks -
Myocardial infarction (MI).
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've brought it on. I was sitting all snugly & warm on a cold
evening, with my purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my
friend had sent me, and actually thinking, 'Aah, this is the life, 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
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 drink a glass of water t 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. I
pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the
next room and dialed 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 Idid 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 inexplicable 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 a 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...
4. A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this mail sends it to 10 people, you
can be sure that we'll save at least one life.
**Please be a true friend and send this article to all you love.**