Just when I thought things were back to normal.. my heart decided it was time for another 2 night stay at the Holiday Inn.. I mean University of Iowa Hospital. It was a beautiful Sunday and we were driving back after having an amazing time with my sister and her family in Florida. I started having chest pain on Saturday but thought it would go away. And.. nope the next day it got worse. I finally told Joe and we ended up going to a rural hospital in Mt. Pleasant, Ia. The ER was small and really made me concerned that what if something happens to me? Do these people know what to do? My worries were cast aside after the amazing care I received. At first, they thought I had a blood clot from traveling but due to my history they decided to transport me to U of I for further follow up. One ambulance ride later, many hours in the ER and at 3AM finally a room!
Nitro drip, heparin drip and many pain meds and I still was continuing to have the worst chest pain I've ever experienced. All the tests were done, EKG, Echo and blood draws and still no answers. Frustration is an understatement! All I could think about is I do not want to go through this again only 5 months later.
They decided to do another angiogram in the cath lab to rule out another dissection. Since my heart attack I have done extensive research on this topic SCAD- Sudden coronary artery dissection. The Cardiologists in Iowa City tell me it’s rare and has a high percentage of reoccurrence. Thank GOD the angiogram was negative.. My stents are working like a charm. All they could conclude is that the Heparin did its job and busted any clot that was causing my chest pain.
Fast forward to today.. I take my son for his high school athletic physical and it hits me smackdab
in the face.. THE QUESTION !! HAS ANY FAMILY MEMBER HAD A HEART ATTACK AT LESS THAN 55 YEARS OF AGE? For years, I have been filling out his form and like a robot mark NO across the board for his health history. And then the question I've never noticed or maybe never read until today.
The infamous question!
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This leads to a million questions
(well maybe I'm exaggerating a bit) from the nurse practitioner and I again
have to tell my story. I so wish I could go back to the day where I was boring
and continued to mark NO on health history sheets. But, it goes back again to
this now being apart of whom I am and what my kids now have to answer on health
forms.
When looking at my heart attack I
continue to look at it as a hidden blessing. I live each day to the fullest and
no longer take life for granted. I use to continually get stressed about the
little things.. but it’s funny once you think you may not get a chance to fret
about the little things in life you begin to laugh it off and LIVE!!
