To All Women

Warning signs of a heart attack, no matter your age.

Okay ladies of all ages, this one is meant as a "beware your heart and health."
  I say all ages because I am a young 31 and if it could happen to me, it can happen to anyone.
  You see you think to yourself that as you get older, you're more prone to health issues, but at my age, heart attacks are not one, unless you have family history.
  But again, if it could happen at 31, it could happen at any time and usually for no reason.
  My story is not to frighten you, it's to inform you. You see, usually when you think of a heart attack you think of the sympotoms pain in the chest, pain shooting through the arm, numbness in your fingers, short of breath and heart pounding. Wrong! In women, it's so much different.
  I was sitting at my computer, after waking just an hour earlier in no pain at all, reading my email, when it happened. I began to have pain in both my shoulder blades. At first it was a small pain, but as time went on, it only became worse.
So I did what we all do, I took some pain medication. When after about an hour, that didn't help, I took a hot shower, letting the water pulse where I hurt. Again, no relief.
  my husband was a work and thank God it was the weekend so my oldest son was home. I laid in bed and had my oldest try to massage my shoulder blades until his arms became too weak. Again, no relief.
  I honestly thought it was a muscle spasm or I pulled a muscle somehow and if I could just get some rest, I would be fine. Wishful thinking.
  I laid there feeling hot and faint so I used a cold wash cloth. It brought some relief to the sweating. So since hot water from the shower didn't help, I decided to try ice on my back.
Finally, a little relief! My husband finally came home and since I had been feeling a little better, refused to let him take me to the hospital. For one reason, I do not have medical insurance, so I don't go unless absolutely neccissary, which to say is never. I'm not asking for sympathy here. Remember this is a warning.
  It was payday so bills needed to get paid and even though he didn't want to leave, he had no choice. Feeling better, I convinced him I would be fine.
  Well the ice melted and I had no more so I just laid there trying to find a comfortable position. Now mind you, I have a 6 yr old and at the time a 3 yr. old who had never seen me in such pain, so of course, they were worried. I tried to get my oldest to keep the distracted, but they were afraid I was dying so a moment of peace I never got.
  By the time my husband came home again, not only had the pain returned to it's original strength, I also had numbness in all my fingers and toes.
  I finally broke down, not able to handle the pain anymore and decided to go to the hospital.

I was rushed right in once I said numbness and taken care of so fast, I was amazed. Then they brought in the EKG machine and I told them there was no need I knew I wasn't having a heart attack after all, I had no pain in my chest, it was in my back.They told me it was because of the numbness I was complaining about that they just wanted to rule that possibility out. By this time, I had been striped of my clothes and given one of those damn hospital gowns, so thin, and the hospital we all know is freezing. They are trying to hook me up and I'm shivering and they are getting aggrivated at me cause I couldn't lay still from shivering.
  Anyway, the EKG, of course, came back negative. Duh, I told them. So they took blood work and gave me pain medication and left me there, waiting and waiting. They came back about an hour later wanting to do yet another EKG, talking like doctors do, thinking us people who didn't go to medical school, should still understand what they are saying.
Again, the EKG came back negative. Again, duh! So they decided they had no clue what was going on, but were possitive it had something to do with my heart because the blood work showed something. They decided to do an angiogram, now if you don't know what that is I'll explain. They numb your thigh, right up next to your pelvic and cut a slit in your thigh, then they take a long tube with a camera on the end and weave it up through your thigh and body up into your heart. You're awake through the whole thing and supposed to feel no pain. I say suppossed to because if they give you the right amount of anesthesia, you wouldn't.
Well low and behold to my great shock, it was something to do with my heart! Apperantly, I suffered a small heart attack. One of the tiny vessels in my heart shut off. It was so minor, that is why it did not show up on the EKG. But, of course, even though minor, still a big deal. I was placed in ICU for a day then moved to regular room for another 2 days.
Again, this is only to inform you. So don't just let the doctor stop at an EKG if you know there is something wrong, but tests are showing up nothing. And don't be fooled by the familiar, grab your chest, arm full of pain, fingers numb heart attack symptoms. In most women they suffer heart attacks much differently than men.  Here is the symptoms I was given to be aware of. Usually you have pain, burning in the jaw, and pain in the back of your neck, usually starting on the left side and spreading to the right side.
when in doubt, do not hesitate to go to the hospital, but pop a Bayer aspirin before you do, it could save your life.
I do so hope you find this helpful and eye opening. Please warn your grandmothers, your mothers, your sisters, your Aunts, your cousins, your daughters and friends. If it could happen to a healthy 31 year old, such as myself, it can happen to you and a loved one. Don't ever think it's nothing, just a little pain, you'll get over it. Always, always be more safe, otherwise you'll end up being sorry.


I am looking for a way to improve this writing so that I may submit it to a magazine. If you have suggestions please, I know it needs a lot of work, I only wrote it here as a warning not for reviews or anything, but I want to help others with this write. Please, any feedback would be greatly appriciated!