F
flutterbee
Guest
Well - it's been a life-changing week.
Last Friday night, I had a bit of discomfort in my throat and upper chest. I attributed it to heartburn and took some tums. Saturday night while difficult child and I were getting ready to go out to eat with a friend and her kids, it came back. A bit more severe this time. I took some more tums. Felt kinda crummy through dinner. After dinner, we stopped at the store for bunny food and it became pretty intense. When I got home, I went right upstairs to get my jammies on I had to lie down for a bit as it felt like it was hard to breathe and my heart was just pounding. By that time, the pain was also shooting down the back of my left arm to my elbow. It felt like a pinched nerve.
Sunday was more of the same. By Monday, the pain was mostly in my upper back between my shoulder blades, shooting up my neck and down my left arm. By now, any kind of exertion, i.e, walking, was causing significant discomfort in my throat and upper chest and my breathing was labored.
I've had symptoms similar to these before and doctors in the past have said it's a virus in the muscles, or the like. But I decided to go to the ER Monday night just as a precaution. Long story short (and it is a very long story), I had a mild heart attack. On Tuesday they did a heart catheterization and were shocked by what they found. They placed 4 stents in the coronary arteries. 2 of the arteries were 99% blocked, the other 2 were 50% and 40% blocked. I have coronary artery disease. I'm only 33 years old.
I had complications from the catheterization. I bled internally into my abdomen from the artery used for the procedure. They did a CT Scan following the catheterization to determine the amount and location of the bleed and found a significant bleed. The pain from internal bleeding is excruciating. Fortunately, the bleeding stopped on its own. I found out later from my mom that I was close to going in to surgery to stop the bleeding. On Thursday, I had a blood transfusion because my hemoglobin was dropping instead of steadying after the bleed. I was released from the hospital on Friday.
In the meantime, difficult child stayed with a friend of mine and did very well. I was very worried about how she would handle this and she came through like a champ. I'm so proud of her. easy child stayed with some friends who live around the corner and came home in the afternoon to take care of the animals. He came through like a champ, too. I'm proud of both of my kids.
I'm still in quite a bit of discomfort in my abdomen as my body absorbs the blood. I have a slew of new medications to take everyday - beta blocker, ace inhibitor, Plavix (to stop the platelets from collecting on the stents), aspirin, cholesterol medication, pain medications in addition to my lexapro and aygestin. I have a lot of adjustments to make and it's still sinking in. I expected to leave the ER on Monday with a rx for Nexium. It's all been a bit surreal.
Last Friday night, I had a bit of discomfort in my throat and upper chest. I attributed it to heartburn and took some tums. Saturday night while difficult child and I were getting ready to go out to eat with a friend and her kids, it came back. A bit more severe this time. I took some more tums. Felt kinda crummy through dinner. After dinner, we stopped at the store for bunny food and it became pretty intense. When I got home, I went right upstairs to get my jammies on I had to lie down for a bit as it felt like it was hard to breathe and my heart was just pounding. By that time, the pain was also shooting down the back of my left arm to my elbow. It felt like a pinched nerve.
Sunday was more of the same. By Monday, the pain was mostly in my upper back between my shoulder blades, shooting up my neck and down my left arm. By now, any kind of exertion, i.e, walking, was causing significant discomfort in my throat and upper chest and my breathing was labored.
I've had symptoms similar to these before and doctors in the past have said it's a virus in the muscles, or the like. But I decided to go to the ER Monday night just as a precaution. Long story short (and it is a very long story), I had a mild heart attack. On Tuesday they did a heart catheterization and were shocked by what they found. They placed 4 stents in the coronary arteries. 2 of the arteries were 99% blocked, the other 2 were 50% and 40% blocked. I have coronary artery disease. I'm only 33 years old.
I had complications from the catheterization. I bled internally into my abdomen from the artery used for the procedure. They did a CT Scan following the catheterization to determine the amount and location of the bleed and found a significant bleed. The pain from internal bleeding is excruciating. Fortunately, the bleeding stopped on its own. I found out later from my mom that I was close to going in to surgery to stop the bleeding. On Thursday, I had a blood transfusion because my hemoglobin was dropping instead of steadying after the bleed. I was released from the hospital on Friday.
In the meantime, difficult child stayed with a friend of mine and did very well. I was very worried about how she would handle this and she came through like a champ. I'm so proud of her. easy child stayed with some friends who live around the corner and came home in the afternoon to take care of the animals. He came through like a champ, too. I'm proud of both of my kids.
I'm still in quite a bit of discomfort in my abdomen as my body absorbs the blood. I have a slew of new medications to take everyday - beta blocker, ace inhibitor, Plavix (to stop the platelets from collecting on the stents), aspirin, cholesterol medication, pain medications in addition to my lexapro and aygestin. I have a lot of adjustments to make and it's still sinking in. I expected to leave the ER on Monday with a rx for Nexium. It's all been a bit surreal.
