Good, I was scrolling down and looking for you.
What happened with your heart? Chest/arm pains? Happen while you were out, or at ome? Stent(s)? First-time attack? How old are you? Pls share what you care to...
I'd been having mild pains through my chest and shoulders and then running down my arms for the last couple of months. They were very short episodes so I kept chalking it up to acid reflux.
The pain hit me in the chest, shoulders, and arms on Friday morning while I was at my desk. This time the pain didn't subside. It wasn't a sharp pain, kind of a broad pressure with a burning sensation. Still not realizing how severe the situation was, I drove from my office to the emergency room (about 10 miles).
By the time I got to the ER, I was having shortness of breath. When I walked in I told them I thought I was having a problem with my heart. Within about 60 seconds I had three cardiac doctors and a whole team of nurses and triage people working me over. They ran a quick EKG and one of them said “yep, that's a heart attack”. They were moving really fast. I'll bet no more than 5 minutes passed from the time I walked through the door to the time they had me on the table in the cath lab.
I'm 57 years old but I do consider myself to be in good physical condition. I'm very active, only have a BMI of 139, eat right, etc. Have never had any heart problems. The American Heart Association has a 7-point heart health questionnaire. I score in the “Excellent” field on 6 out of the 7. The one I fail is that I'm a smoker. I have never really had a desire to quit.
It was scary. They even had the chaplain there at my side. The funny thing about it, in a good way, was that even though I knew that I might be checking out I was more concerned about my family. I quietly asked that He take care of my family for me. Beyond that, I really wasn't afraid.