In the early morning hours of Wednesday, August 5th, I had a heart attack – denying my symptoms all the way to the ER: severe pressure on the left-side of my chest, throughout my neck and throat, and through my shoulders and arms. All of these symptoms were coupled with stomach fullness without relief. After waiting about 2 hours, sitting on the edge of my bed, I finally concluded that I had to seek medical attention.(I just didn’t want to ‘overreact’. . .)
I am a 70-year-old woman. Overweight. An immune-system disorder patient (RA). With hypothyroidism and high cholesterol. And Vertigo.
For whatever foolish reason/s, I used to assume heart attacks largely affected men – almost solely men.
My symptoms had been going on for weeks, if not months – with me always shrugging it off as “a poorly fitting bra,” indigestion, too much eating, poor posture, tight-waist clothes, etc. My discharging cardiologist, thus, repeated these crucial words emphatically – crucial not only for me, but perhaps for you, dear female reader of mine: “This WAS and IS your heart attack. There are different heart attacks. This one was uniquely yours.”
This writing is not about generating a pity on me. It is, rather, to put out on this platform an insight into an actual life-changing experience I have recently gone through.
I was airlifted from my city hospital to another one where cardiologists could help me immediately. I was utterly fortunate to stay alive despite my own long-term sabotaging of my own heart health, or my general health, for that matter.
May you all be alert to unusual symptoms your body generates for you, in order for you to seek immediate medical assistance.
In case any of my medical teams, my Life-link pilot and us-accompanying nurse,my nurses and doctors in both hospitals, meal providers, room up-keepers, and more dear people should happen to be here reading me, I would like to shout out to them a loud and clear, Thank you for saving my life despite my thick head!
hülyaswritings 