I had a heart attack Saturday (1 Viewer)

[Bob Graz]

I got up Saturday morning and went to the fitness center. I did 35 minutes on the treadmill and some weights. Good workout, I felt great. I took my wife out to an early dinner for her birthday. We finished eating, paid the bill and were just having some decaf coffee. All of a sudden I didn't feel well, wasn't quite sure what was going on but didn't seem right. I was beginning to feel pressure in my chest, started sweating. I had my wife drive me to a nearby Urgent Care facility. They ran an EKG on me and I was having a heart attack. The gave me aspirin, nitro, oxygen and called an ambulance. Ambulance took me to a local hospitals heart center where the cardiac team was already assembling.

I was taken to the Cardiac Catheterization Lab and my right coronary artery was 100% blocked. I had no earlier indications or signs that I was having a problem. They put a stent in and I was home on Monday.

I had gotten treatment so quickly after the start of the attack that heart muscle damage was very slight. Everyone who took care of me from the time I showed up at Urgent Care, to the ambulance team, and the cardiologist and staff at the hospital were incredible. The care I got was first rate.

No family history of heart disease, I exercise, watch my diet and I'm in my 40's. A completely unexpected event.

Anyway, glad to be sitting here today feeling very good. Thanks to all the people that dedicate themselves to critical care.

 

[Paul McElligott]

Wow! Scary stuff. Glad you're doing okay.

 

[Raasean Asaad]

Glad youi're doing ok? Did you go to WakeMed?

 

[LarryDavenport]

You are describing an Angina. I've had a couple of those (five stents total) and I've also had intermitent tachacardia (the latest was New Years Day) which put me in the hospital for a week. Until I get a new kidney my heart is increasingly at risk. Cest la vie.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Congratulations on a narrow escape!

Cholesterol levels in the normal range? Sounds like that's about the only thing that might have given a clue.

M.

 

[Bob Graz]

I went to Rex Urgent Care, then to Rex Hospital. My total cholesterol is very good but my HDL is low. Need to get it higher now.

 

[johnnyPower]

whats it like?

 

[SteveA]

Hey, lets keep it clean here please.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[todd s]

He just gets home and comes to post on the HTF....Talk about a devotion to the site.

Seriously, I am glad you are ok. Just curious..When you say you felt pressure..can you describe it more. I am always concerned I wouldn't know the difference between a heart attack and gas pains or something else less benign.

 

[Brian Perry]

Glad to hear you made it through okay. It sounds as though you didn't have to make any tough decisions -- one of my friends who had just suffered an MI was told by the attending doctor, "We're going to have to open you up." Talk about being on the spot. He was able to get a second opinion and opted for angioplasty rather than a bypass, which has worked out thus far.

One theory about heart attacks states that the level of iron in the blood plays a role. It's why I try to give blood regularly, which reduces the iron level. One of the premises is that women have relatively few heart attacks until after menopause, at which point the rate approaches that of men. Women essentially give blood every month via menstruation, which lowers their iron.

The theory could be bunk, but as there are other good reasons to give blood, I like to think I'm helping myself in the process.

 

[Bob Graz]

Thanks everyone. What I felt in my chest was a pressure, not pain. Gas pain actually gives you a sharp, more of a localized pain. I didn't feel pain, but a pressure or tightness. Not so much that I couldn't move. I didn't really experience any shortness of breath. I did however get some pain down my left arm, sweating and indigestion. Having just finished dinner, I wasn't exactly sure of what was going on, but I began very quickly to suspect that it quite possibly could be a heart attack. It's important to also note that heart attack symptoms can vary greatly.

Given that I was in good shape before, I'm recovering very quickly. But it's important to understand that I did as well as I did because I got medical help quickly. I did not go home to see if it would improve. Had I waited, the outcome would have been much different.

For those in the Triangle area, I could not be happier with Rex.

Don't take chances with your health, if you suspect something is wrong, get it checked out.

 

[John Walley]

I have never heard of this. What I have heard though is hormonal variation in women may account for changes in risk.

 

[LarryDavenport]

I had EKGs and went to the cath lab (twice) and it WAS an angina (both times).

 

[John Walley]

That may be true, but he was not describing angina.

Maybe I should have added the word "then" in the following sentence:

He wouldn't have EKG changes and "then" go to the cath lab for angina.