I was an ignored woman, I did everything right, I went to the doctor when things did not feel right, my legs hurt, (you need to exercise more), My chest hurt below the ribs, (Arthritis of the breastbone), I was so exhausted at times, I could barely walk to my bedroom, 20 feet down the hall. I had a month of sweats, cold feet and clammy body, (weird virus). I would begin to shower and my chest hurt so bad when holding my arms up to wash my hair, I had to get out of the shower, lie down and beg God to "Please make this arthritis pain go away". Or please just let me live one more day, even though the pain was unbearable.
I would begin to vacuum and I could not push the vacuum.
Now these symptoms did not come every day. It was sporadic and getting more painful and more often as time went on. I had been complaining for 4 years.
I felt like a hypochondriac. "I often asked my husband, "Do you think I am a hypochondriac?"
He would respond with you are the furthermost thing from one. You detest being sick, that is why you do not call the doctor every day and say, "Help!!"
Every diagnosis, Had it all been combined, would have said, "HEART!!!
But I was not a man so I was being left to die.
I had my plans all made, my dress was picked out, I went on an extended vacations to see my family one more time. I told my grandchildren "If Mamaw is ever lying down or falls down, and you can't wake her, call 911. I showed them how to use the phone.
I put a phone in the bedroom so I could page David for help, I took two doses of a high power medication (Oxycontin) for pain. It almost killed me, I sat on the floor by the commode throwing up violently and crying, my chest hurt so bad. When I came out David was in shock, He said, I was white as a sheet.
I had horrible dreams, When I lay down, I would feel as if I was drifting away, only to jerk my self up, knowing it was real. (often afraid to sleep).
There were days I refused to get on the freeway to leave town and I knew things were not good for me that day.
I was listening to my body but the doctors were not listening to me.
I would rest when I was so tired I could not move, I often spent 12 hours in my bedroom. not sleeping, just lying there, aware of my heart beating.
Something in my chest often did flip flops, (like a fish out of water) only one or two at a time. That was a weird feeling, I discovered later it was my heart spasming to beat or catch up to the rhythm. It felt so strange.
I was SICK.
When I came home from vacation that summer, I called the office, "I am sick I need to see the doctor now. "They ordered blood test, When I went in for the appointment, my doctor was running 2 hours behind time.
I am not a very patient person, that day I almost walked out several times, something kept telling me to stay.
When I went in they checked vitals, All good. The doctor was still not in my room. I asked for a Stress test. I had one the prior year and it was fine, (Right). Stress test ARE NOT accurate.
Doctor said "no it is too soon" . I said, "Then send him in I NEED to see him, something is wrong with me and I need to know what". My triglycerides were over 400.
I then took control of my health. A woman HAS to do that.
He agreed to run the test. As it began I was already tired. Nothing showed on the monitor. He said "Tell me when the pain starts so I can see what happens here."
The pain was not horrible that day. I said, it hurts a little now but not bad. He kept going. Finally I said, "Stop the test, I am too tired to do this, I Can not keep going."
He stopped the test, and gave me a nitro just in case.
He said, "I am sending you to Redding med, I am calling an ambulance". NO WAY
I said, "You know this is not as bad as I have been, so I can drive myself home, pick up my husband, and drive myself there. I have been like this for 4 years so I do not want an ambulance".
Stubborn aren't I?
I was Ticked, Ticked really bad. I wanted to kick something.
He said, "they will probably give you medication and send you home. You may have had a small heart attack".
Again that made me mad. I did not want to be sick. I wanted to just be well.
I said so I will be going right back home, He said probably.
I drove home, I went in slamming doors, I don't know why that made me so angry.
I guess I thought I had done everything right in my life. This was not happening to me.
Little did I know each step could be my last. And that anger was not good at all.
Poor David kept telling me to settle down and just go, It would be OK. He paled when I told him the doctor felt it was my heart.
When I got to the hospital, they prepped me, I met my cardiologist for the first time. (one I had requested, due to a test I asked for two years prior, his office ran the test, he read it and sent it to my doctor). I never met him . I just knew his name.
When he did the heart cath, He rolled me down to see the heart, He said, "Your main artery is totally blocked, You have several that are really bad."
"Wow!" Those were his words.
He told David, they immediately brought in a surgeon,
He walked in and said, "I usually come in to give options, You have no options, You have bypass surgery or you WILL die".
He then showed me all my bad arteries, 5 arteries with one blocked in two places, both needed repaired. 6 way CABG
Of course I calmly said, "Do it"
He told me "This is so bad it is usually found in autopsy". I was unusually calm.
I guess I suspected it but now I had an answer to my question, " Was I imagining the pain, No I did not imagine it".
He told me to go talk to my Mom and Dad as they had caused this, not me. Totally genetic.
I said, "I can't my dad died at 42 with heart disease."
Within in 18 hours of discovery I was in surgery, I did GREAT, I was so glad to be alive and know why I was so sick.
So Keep a watch on your heart. It is not what you do, it is what you may have in your genetics.
Life style can contribute but genetics played the biggest role in my health.
Read on for information from the American Heart Association.
Heart disease is not a disease that only affects men.
According to the American Heart Association (AHA), heart disease kills more than 500,000 women annually.
In 2001, well over half of the people who died from heart disease were women.
Yet, "Women still think they cannot have coronary disease," says Dr. Massimo Guisti of Cardiovascular Associates of Virginia, PC.
"They are more afraid of ovarian or breast cancer, but coronary disease is the actually the leading cause of death in women.
"Heart disease often presents itself differently in women than it does in men.
That includes the warning signs of a heart attack as well.
In addition to the classic heart attack warning signs, such as chest discomfort, shortness of breath and pain in one or both arms, women may experience these less common signs:
Atypical chest, stomach or abdominal pain.
Atypical chest, stomach or abdominal pain.
Nausea or dizziness without chest pain.
Shortness of breath and difficulty breathing without chest pain.
Unexplained anxiety, weakness or fatigue.
Palpitations, cold sweat or paleness.
The National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute reports that one in 10 American women,
ages 45-64, has some form of heart disease.
In women over the age of 65, these numbers double.
For women, like men, the major risk factors for heart disease include increasing age,
heredity, tobacco use, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure,
physical inactivity and obesity.
