Some personal notes on heart

 This view shows the LAD, or left anterior descending (or interventricular) artery, which feeds the heart itself.

That's where they gave me a stent, and the photo my cardiologist showed me (not this one) was a heart without any LAD. He said that's what mine had looked like before the stent was applied. Someone in my treatment mentioned this heart attack was known as "the widow-maker." So I'm incredibly thankful to be alive.

It's pretty incredible that they found that problem by running a tiny scanning device with a camera at the end, up my right brachial artery from my wrist to my heart. And somehow, by then I was asleep thank heaven, they put the stent in the same way. The only opening I had was that tiny cut on my wrist. How simple surgery now is and almost non-invasive.

I had my heart attack out of the blue 4 years ago. No afib. But pain in my neck kept me from sleeping for 2 days, and I went to my regular MD (as a walk-in patient) who changed my BP meds, and maybe told me something about using pain relievers. The pain relievers over the counter had not worked and I was exhausted from being awake and in pain, some coughing which is chronic for me. Finally on evening of 3rd day a friend drove me to ER, and after the 2nd EKG (MD's office EKG was vague) and several tests of blood they determined a heart attack, and gave me a stent on the LAD artery which feeds the heart. If the EKG from the MD's office had been accurate, they would have sent me to the hospital two days earlier. Yes, this was an ongoing event, not sharp and accute!

Women don't always have symptoms like men! That's the main underlining point here. I'd tell each physician I saw about excruciating pain in my neck and shoulders. Some tightness felt in chest. That was the way I got treated as a heart patient...otherwise they would have left me in the waiting room with everyone else. Heart patients do get immediate care.

I'm not going into all the details about being given care in the second month that COVID hit all the hospitals...and my having COPD and bronchiectasis (a chronic cough.) I've talked about that elsewhere.

I just hope women will take seriously heart problems that appear as non-traditional pains especially if they already have high blood pressure or other indicators that might lead to heart attacks.

I have changed my diet and now exercise much more regularly, and have lost about 20 pounds in the last 4 years.

Keep on ticking, all you lovely heart beating women (and men too)!!

Today's quote:

The more we practice settling our minds, the easier it will become over time.