It Hurts and It Hurts.

My heart was really hurting last night.  My chest cavity {heart} was sore for several hours late into the night/early morning.  For a while I had what felt like an almost burning feeling strictly in my heart.  My heart felt very heavy.  I took an aspirin and it felt better (great?).  I am anxious to go to my cardiology appointment.  

I hate feeling (the) arrhythmia; I don't think I'll ever get used to it and wish it would cease.  I don't mean to sound negative, I simply get tired of having my body feel fragile; like there are butterflies inside my chest; like I could break apart.

Speaking of breaking apart, I am very frustrated.  I just found out that apparently my father was diagnosed with arrhythmia in his thirties. It would have been nice to have known this when I had my heart attack/myocardial infarction or maybe, perhaps, before!?  Adoptive parents are looking better and better.  Is that possible still?!  I am trying to have a sense of humor about what I perceive as selfishness/sheer parental failure.  Certainly, if pertinent medical information isn't going to be disclosed with your child(ren), what kind of a "loving" and "selfless" parent can you claim to be?  As I said, is there adoption for thirty-something's?  Only kidding, I'd much rather carry on with my life (full medical disclosure on my father's part would have been ideal since I wasn't left on a door step for nun's to raise!).

Watch Your "Own" Heart Attack

I came across a public service announcement (PSA) on You Tube about a year ago.  I believe it's from the  United Kingdom.  It reminds me of the PSA about drugs where the egg is frying in the pan ("...this is your brain on drugs").  


Okay, back to the dramatization at hand; it answers the question that people ask, 'What did it feel like?'.  If you want to know, watch this video.  My main symptoms were different:  I did not have any chest pain.  I had tightness and pain in my shoulder blades/upper back.  This is a symptom usually associated with female heart attack patients.  


The day I went to the emergency room I used the search engine Google to look up the words 'heart attack symptoms' because I knew something wasn't right within my body.  After that, recalling commercials for aspirin, I found an old bottle in my medicine cabinet.  Just as the commercials suggested, I opened it, and took a dosage.  I decided that it couldn't hurt anything and now that I had read the list of symptoms, if I had any others I would go to the hospital.  Before I knew it I was making the next decision to call 911 for an ambulance.  The actor in the PSA below is correct:  every second counts.  Why take the chance of dying?  Nobody knows your body better than yourself.


The ambulance personnel didn't think anything of it when I told them I thought I was having a heart attack.  When I was taken into the emergency room I was left in a hallway on the gurney from the ambulance.  I didn't remember much of the ride from my home to the hospital, but as I lay there on my back, I still new something was wrong.  I started asking for someone to help me, continuing to state that I thought I was having a heart attack.  A couple of staff looked at me like I was crazy.  I can't blame them, I was only thirty-three.  I wasn't about to stop asking for help though, so I was moved into a room and set up with an EKG monitor.  Within minutes the room was full with personnel; I knew I was correct when I saw a man dressed in golfing attire enter.  He calmly told me that I was having a heart attack.

I encourage everyone to not only watch this clip, but familiarize yourself with the symptoms for heart attack/stroke (differences between male and female).  Likewise, discuss with your primary care physician ways to prevent blood clots, stroke and heart attack.  For example,  a physician might recommend taking a specific dosage of aspirin daily depending on your age and other factors.  


WARNING:  This video may be upsetting for stroke/heart attack survivors and loved one's.  Please only watch if you want to know more about symptoms (otherwise refer to other sources such as the American Heart Association or a physician).