My Heart Attack in 2007

In April 2007, I had a heart attack in the middle of my son's baseball season his senior year.  I was 47, had been dieting that year and had lost around 30 lbs or more doing a high protein diet.  My son's baseball season was definitely stressful as we couldn't always understand the changes the coach would make concerning our son's playing time.  Yes, I was definitely a biased baseball parent.  The following is an account of my heart attack experience that I wrote a couple of days afterward.

April 14, 2007
"Monday night (after working my concession shift at the JV HS baseball game), I started having pain between my shoulder blades (like a knife in my back), both arms ached, my breastbone hurt, my teeth hurt, etc. and I could not get comfortable no matter what I did.  I took Tums, Rolaids, Bayer Asprin, etc. with no relief. I had not eaten dinner so I was praying it was indigestion - was dreaming about that "purple pill" which I did not have. 

My husband called our internist that morning and took me into see him. He did an EKG and that did not show any major changes - he thought that there was only a 20% chance it was my heart but he sent me to the ER and had a cardiologist meet me there. After viewing the EKG from the ER, the ER (male) and the cardiologist (male) also did not think it was my heart but wanted to keep me there to find out the results of the blood enzyme levels and to run a treadmill stress test the next day. 

At this point, we are ready to check me out - son has a game that night, I was feeling a little better, then the ER doc comes in and says "I was wrong - the blood tests show an elevation in the enzymes that relate to the heart." Immediately to the ICU I go!! No baseball game for us! (they won by the way without us!)  Our son did not find out I had a heart attack until after the game.

I am one lucky gal!  I had a heart cath the next morning - showed a blockage - had the angioplasty and a stent put in. I immediately felt better! I was amazed at how loose all the staff was at the heart cath lab - they were all joking around.

I got to come home the very next day (last night) and have already walked 20 minutes this morning due to the doc's orders! Technology is amazing!

So gals, my cholesterol levels were ok - my good cholesterol is low, I had already lost 30 pounds this year trying to get healthier (hurts my feelings that this happened), but years of abuse and family history I guess took its toll.

Only bad news is that my son was supposed to have his spring signing on April 11th at school that got cancelled due to me in the hospital - he is going to play D2 ball at Colorado School of Mines and study engineering. We are thrilled for him! 

Another funny side note for you baseball moms - the ER nurse at our Texas hospital has a son that is playing D2 ball in Nebraska! They had just moved to Texas and were missing their son. He started out at a D1 school and since transferred to a D2 school and likes it better - felt going to a D1 was like having a fulltime job. Amazing how baseball ties people together!

So - don't ignore those symptoms! I am feeling so blessed today and thankful! I even get to go to my son's game tonight! "

After the heart attack, I was so good with the low-fat diet for about 6-9 months.  It bothered me to see people put butter on their rolls in front of me.  I remember talking to a nurse while I was in ICU - telling her I would never be able to eat a sausage biscuit again - she told me I would - I would forget about this experience in time and go back to some old eating habits.  Unfortunately, she was right - I did go back to eating sausage biscuits again.  My internist also told me it was unrealistic to think I would never eat pizza again - and I did.  Unfortunately, I've been losing weight and gaining weight each year - at my highest weight before surgery I was probably up 50 lbs from my heart attack weight.  My father had a history of heart disease and died of a stroke at 77 - so my family history is against me.

I do have checkups with the cardiologist every year and he does a nuclear stress test.  I had to have one before my VSG.  The last stress test did show some abnormal findings - he had to review it more closely before he cleared me for surgery.  I'm hoping I'll see some different results on that stress test next year after having this surgery.

This surgery was very important to getting my health back.  I have to take this heart disease seriously and not put my head in the sand and forget I have to take care of myself by eating a heart healthy diet, exercise, take my heart medication, and see my cardiologist regularly.  Hopefully this tool - the VSG - will help me achieve a new healthier life!