I want to tell you about my heart attack experience so as women, we’ll be better prepared when heart health symptoms show up.
The day before my heart attack I had eight symptoms and refused to go to the Emergency Room. I thought I was having an anxiety attack. You see, I was too busy and didn’t “have time” to work that major health issue into my very busy schedule!
It was a Thursday and I was spotlight speaker at one of my networking groups. This means you get ten minutes to stand before the room and tell about your business; then another ten minutes to run a mastermind exercise.
I’d done it once before and knew I could get people to sign up for my writing class from this compelling talk.
I started preparing at 6:30am. My fingers and toes were icy cold and I felt a chill from head to toe.
I was tired and hadn’t been sleeping well but chalked it up to one of many things, a full moon, a poor dinner choice night before, or sleep apnea.
My collarbone ached like someone was pinching it. I felt like I’d been holding my breath as I wrote my speech notes onto blue notecards.
I began to pack up my hand-outs and props. I needed to make more copies, make sure I had business cards, and gather the crayons and drawing paper for the coloring.exercise.
I wanted to arrive at the lunch meeting at 11:00 to set up my props.
I pack all the supplies into my SUV and notice I’m winded from the effort.
Finally, I’m there, in the space of the lunch meeting. It’s a local brewpub restaurant with tables set up into a hollow square to accommodate 40 plus people.
I settle in at an end seat so I can get up easily for my presentation. I hear the buzz of conversations around me and notice my mouth is dry. I order water from the waitress.
Then the microphone comes out – the leader declares it’s not working well and to hold it tightly and put it directly up to your mouth or it will cut out.
I see others struggle with getting their “30 second elevator speech” out without the mic crackling.
I’m being introduced – I stand at the front – all eyes upon me – I lay my note cards out in front of me and grasp the microphone for dear life.
I talk easily for ten minutes except I realized I was getting short of breath and thought I’d been talking and forgetting to breathe!
Then my heart started pounding and I thought it was because I was probably holding my breath.
It pounds faster, I mean really pounding. It takes everything I have to appear calm and composed – after all I’m giving a speech!
I’m feeling lightheaded just to the point of dizzy – I grasp the back of a chair and steady myself while the group gets busy on the crayon assignment I’ve given them.
I let go of my grip on the microphone, breathe deeply, and try to gain my composure. I walk around the outer square of the tables and look at the drawings they’re making. This calms my heart down.
My time is up, I take questions, then sit down just before the room was beginning to spin.
Immediately sweat begins to form at my hairline and trickle down my forehead – it’s like a menopausal hotflash. I dab at it with a napkin.
A good friend sees that all the color has drained from my face and sits across the table from me. She brings me water, the waitress brings me sprite, they want to call 911 – I insist “NO! I’m fine, I just feel woozy,” – probably stood too long, didn’t eat my lunch, a hundred excuses!
All I wanted to do was to pass out and lay down and there was nowhere to do it and I kept saying “I’m fine – I’m fine”
Finally after lots of water, lots of napkins to mop cold sweat pouring from my scalp I feel somewhat recovered.
I call my husband to come get me – I knew I couldn’t drive home in that condition. He came, I went home, laid on the couch very still and googled my symptoms and VOILA! I came up with an anxiety attack.
Well that explained everything! Somehow that made me feel better even though I couldn’t imagine what I was anxious about – that HAD to be it.
The next day I was admitted to the ER with a Heart attack and received two stents and a defibrillator ‘life vest’.
Did you catch the EIGHT SYMPTOMS? Along with all my excuses? Don’t do what I did. Always check out any of these symptoms immediately!
Next time I’ll write about the day of the heart attack and getting to the hospital.
Tip: beware anxiety attack symptoms are just like heart attack symptoms