Cardiovascular disease is a very important topic to me. It's a topic that I am very knowledgeable about and research often. It is very important to me because at the age of 21 I suffered a heart attack. To this day doctors can't tell me why. It really bugs me that I don't know what happened. It worries me that it could possibly happen again. It is not something that I want to experience again or put my family through again. I don't have a strong family background of heart disease. My uncle and aunt both have had heart attacks in their 40's and both suffer from congestive heart failure. As far as my immediate family goes they are very healthy. So your probably wondering how this happened. Luckily my father is a doctor and he was visiting me after I had just had my 2nd child 3 weeks prior. I was driving and starting feeling pressure to my chest. The only way I can describe it by saying it felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest and wouldn't get up. I began to cry. I immediately pulled over and my father checked my pulse. It was all over the place. He immediately took me to the ER where they hooked me up to an EKG and run all my cardiac enzymes labs. At that point they told me a had suffered from a heart attack. I was there for 2 weeks and left with still no answer to why it happened. 7 years later I still don't know. I see a cardiologist yearly and everything looks fine.
One thing that I want to educate everyone on is that it is true everyone experiences a heart attack differently. People may feel indigestion, nauseated, radiating pain from shoulder down arm, chest pressure and I have heard of not feeling any symptoms. It is so important to be knowledgeable on cardiovascular disease because it can affect anyone. Take me for example, I was a 21 year old healthy fit, mother. If it wasn't for my dad being there with me I don't know what would have happened. Please everyone take care of your health.
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How scary! That would not set well with me either not knowing what happened. God bless you and your dad. My mom's first heart attack showed the typical signs. The one she had that led to the congestive heart failure this year was undetected. Do you have to take medication? Thank you for sharing and opening our eyes!
ReplyDeleteJust a baby aspirin a day. For about a year after it happened I did take cardiac meds but after that I was taken off and just continued on ASA. Thank goodness, because to be honest I am the worlds worse at taking medications. Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteWow! thats scary! And a lot of people have the "It wont happen to me" mentality and it is just not true! Heart attacks can happen to any one for multiple reasons. My grandfather had heart problems but he was over weight, so it didnt come as quite a shock as your heart attack did!
ReplyDeleteWow, that sounds like a really bad bad experience to have. I know how bad CVD is and how the rates of death from it are skyrocketing, especially in women. Hopefully a lot of people can read your blog about it and think about it for themselves. Good information.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very scary experience. My wife had a heart scare several years ago. She was having some severe pain with a few other symptoms and we took her to the ER. Her EKG report read wierd and since she had never had another EKG they didn't know if it was normal for her or not. She had to spend days in the cardi unit and they ran many tests. Finally after being scared to death they relaized she had gallstones and that the her EKG findings were normal for her. You were very lucky to have your dad with you at the time, I know how scary the feeling of thinking your or someone you love is having a heart attack.
ReplyDeleteWow! I am almost speechless. Having a heart attack at 21 years old is something that is hard to imagine. I guess it shows us that science still has a great deal to learn about the human body.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter had a friend that was born with a rare heart abnormality. He was born with only three chambers in his heart and the doctor’s said that he had no chance of survival. They were wrong! They tried a radical surgery right after he was born. They didn’t expect to work, but it did! He is now living a relatively healthy life and is 25 years old.