Member Profiles
MAMA36550
I am a 49 yr old female with 3 grown kids and 3
grown stepkids and 12 grandkids.I have been married to my second husband for 15
yrs and was married to my first husband for 14 yrs. I complained to Drs for
several years that there was something wrong with me ,I felt sure it was my
heart.I had all the regular tests run by Drs who ,I felt,were just doing them to
humor me.At the time I was in my 30s,and they seemed sure that a womam my age
could not have serious heart problems.This went on for several years until one
evening I started having chest pains along with pain in my jaw and the roof of
my mouth. It just so happened that I had read an article in a ladies magazine
that same day and realized that these pains could be from a heart attack.My
husband called 911 and when the paramedics arrived they started an IV and on the
way to the hospital they gave me nitroglycerine sl and in only a minute the pain
started to subside.When the cardiologist came in to see me he admitted me to ICU
and did a heart cath the next morning.I can remember being on that table
watching the screen as he injected the die.Of course I had no idea what to look
for but he said"well I have 15 good reasons why you need to quit smoking".ASt
that point I was so groggy that I didn't understand what he meant but that
evening when I was more awake and alert I was told that I have 15 blockages in
the arteries on the walls of my heart.They were from 40 to 100%.Unfortunatly I
had been right when I thought there was something wrong,I just never expected it
to be that bad.Of course I never picked up another cigarette. At that time I had
my first grandchild who was less than a year old and I was terrified of not
being able to watch that child grow up.I did go through a lot of depression,I
was afraid to do anything because I just knew thatI would drop dead with a
massive coronary.I got to the point that I wouldn't go to bed without shaving my
legs and showering.I thought I was weird but I read an article about a C&W
singer who did the same thing so I thought maybe I wasn't being so rediculous.
My cardio said that bypass wouldn't be an option for me because there were so
many blockages and that years (hopefully many)down the road if things got
extreme I would need a transplant.That was 8 yrs ago and so far I've done great
with very agressive medication and lifestyle changes.Although I am in the early
stages of CHF my last heart caths howed some improvement.I have gotten a little
too confident lately and slipped back into some bad eating habits(not
smoking)and I have to get back on track. I guess what I want to share with
anyone going through something similar is that it is not an automatic death
sentence,there is life with heart disease. I also want to tell any women that I
can that even tho we are in a new millenium many Drs still think heart disease
is a mans problem. I don't know what it's going to take to convince them but if
you think there is something wrong keep looking until you find a Dr who will
listen.You have to take responsibility for your health and don't assume that
your Dr is always right.We women die from heart disease more than any other
disease. mama35660
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