The "That Will Never Happen To Me" File: A Story From The Heart About A Heart

I have been sitting here contemplating how to write this article and researching all the sites that talk about Heart Attacks and the different types. When it finally dawned on me that I don’t need that information to tell you what I have to say. Most of you have heard it anyway, and just like me, it probably went in one ear and out to the “That Will Never Happen To Me” file. I am trained in CPR (4 times) and Basic Life Support (2 times) yet I still put information about a Heart Attack, into that elusive file we all carry around. Where we put the unwanted events of life, like heart attacks and dying, that we don’t want to think about. That Will Never Happen To Me: But it did, it does and it will happen to you, a loved one, you, a dear friend, or even you. My Story:rnMy roommate, and long time friend, is one of the healthiest 62 your old men I know. Hardly sick a day in his life, except for two surgeries, inguinal hernias,rncaused by a birth defect in his abdominal wall. When he started complaining of being tired and wanting to sleep a lot, I dismissed it as being from working, sometimes putting in 10 to 12 hour days. rnWhen he later started complaining of respiratory trouble with some pain, when he was walking home, I dismissed that as allergies. I told him, you are not 18 anymore, things change. We did not give it another thought because the pain subsided after he had been sitting for a spell. When the problems persisted, I did say you should see a doctor, but being a stubborn man, he refused to go and I didn’t push it. Enduring this time the doctor did put him on blood pressure medicine, but again, I dismissed it because he was under a lot of stress. I should have insisted he seek medical care, but I hadn’t opened my “That Will Never Happen To Me” file yet: I was still stuck in the mode of he is healthy, he exercises and he eats well. Can’t stand greasy food, we cook with olive oil, and he doesn’t use salt. I never, ever thought of him as a heart risk. So it was easy to forget about the symptoms because he was insistent that it wasn’t that bad. But Heart Problems Can be Silent and What You Don’t Know Can Kill You: Five days after the onset of the respiratory problems, my roommate called me from work and said he was in pain and come get him. But before I could get dressed he was walking, or rather stumbling, into the room, clutching his chest in the classic heart attack bent position! His boss, apparently rightfully scared, had driven him home. rnWell I pulled that file out really quick and started checking him over. rnBut I was looking for classic Heart Attack signs:rnRapid or very irregular Heart beat, rnPain in his left arm going up to his neckrnOr a weak pulse. rnHe didn’t have any of that. His heart beat was extremely low, 48 bpm, but appeared to be steady, and after he sat for awhile it came up to 60 bpm and the pain subsided some. Since he “appeared” to be improving I agreed to take him to his hospital of choice, an hour and a half away. There were two hospitals along the way, should we decide he couldn't make it to the one he wanted. Once when we were about halfway there he grabbed his chest and moaned but it quickly passed. At this point I knew it was heart related but really was not thinking Heart Attack because he didn’t have any of the other classic symptoms. Fortunately University of Virginia hospital has an excellent heart treatment center. rnI took him in via a wheel chair and before I could get parked and back to him, they had him in the cardiac care trauma room hooked up to heart monitors and already running tests. What We “Didn’t Know” Could Have Killed him The monitor, which shows T waves, really didn’t appear to show any major things wrong and that his heart rate was very low, especially when he moved. So I really wasn’t expecting the news when they came in and started preparing him for admission. rnThey said his blood work showed that he had indeed had a mild Heart Attack! rnI was floored, and I am pretty sure my roommate was in shock too. Because both of us thought “That Will Never Happen To Me” in regards to him. At this point the doctors felt it was not serious and they should just keep him over night for monitoring. There was some talk about doing a catherization to look at his heart, but they had not been decided yet when he was admitted. rnThankfully they did do it the next day. When they got into his heart they were completely shocked with what they found. He had a complete blockage of the left main artery, this type of Heart Attack is often called "The Widow Maker" because death is usually instant. Coming out of surgery with an entirely different tune every doctor, nurse or care giver, that came in the room until we went home, said that most people do not survive a "Widow Maker" Heart Attack. He should count his blessings because it was a miracle he was alive. After the Heart Attack: Sitting here in retrospect, I can see where my lack of knowledge about all types of Heart Attacks caused us both to make a choice, going to UVA Hospital, that could have killed him. Thankfully that didn’t happen, we can see a clear difference now, he has more energy, doesn’t want to sleep all the time and can breathe again. He feels so much better that he is struggling to maintain a “Resting” life style for the appointed time. I learned my lesson and will never put the information, I have learned through this, into the “That Will Never Happen To Me” file again and have in fact begun researching different Heart Attacks and related information so that I will be better prepared in the future. Just For Your File: If an otherwise health person suddenly starts to complain of:rnBeing extremely tired all the timernStarts to have abnormal breathing problemsrnorrnPeriods of pain in the chest enduring exertion that subsides when resting.rnMake them go see a doctor, just to be on the safe side. rnYou never know, you might just save a life. And Perhaps The Most Important Lesson Of All… If you suspect a Heart Attack, call 911 and let the professionals decide if its serious or not. Don’t play with your life or theirs and try to assess it yourself.rnThank you for taking the time to read this and please, please, share this with others. From My Heart to Yours: Sharing is Caring about Your Heart Health To see more of Kat's articles/blogs check her out here: rnhttp://socialmediabar.com/katshands2rn