I know since most of the people here are women I just wanted you guys to read this so we can continue to have you around as long as possible.
Be aware!
I was aware that female heart attacks are
different, but this is the best description I've ever read.
Women and heart attacks (Myocardial infarction)
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 & 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,"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 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
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 adminstering 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 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 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 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...
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.
Be aware!
I was aware that female heart attacks are
different, but this is the best description I've ever read.
Women and heart attacks (Myocardial infarction)
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 & 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,"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 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
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 adminstering 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 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 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 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...
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.
