The crushing pain hit just before 10pm on Tuesday Wednesday (shit, I’m a tool – I don’t even remember when it happened!) night. I had been on a business-related call – nothing stressful – when I developed the headache with jaw pain. Figuring I was in for a migraine, but having tons on my plate to get done before bedtime, I got off the call and grabbed some Advil.My plan was to go lie down in the dark for 15 minutes or so, so ward off the headache.
By the time I returned from the bathroom and put my waterglass down, the pressure had started just beneath my breastbone. I lay on the bed, hoping it was indigestion. Within minutes the pain was so heavy I thought my whole ribcage would implode. My left breast and armpit ached, and I wanted to vomit.
I ran through the checklist in my head:
- Head and jaw pain? Check
- Lightheadedness? Check
- Nausea? Check
- Arm pain? No
- Shortness of breath? No
- Chest pain? FUCK YEAH!
Ok, that was enough indicators for me. Of course, by the time I had gone over this checklist, after waiting out some of the pain, 15 minutes had passed and the pain had dissipated, leaving only a bruised ache in my ribcage and left breast.
Regardless, I hit the ER at St. Mike’s. Here’s a tip to accessing timely care within the socialized Canadian system: Tell them you just had a heart attack. Holy crap, I’ve never been treated so well in a Canadian medical institution in my life! I wanted to tip the nurses or something.
EKG, ECG, XYZ (ok, I made that up), x-rays, blood drawn, wired for sound… All this within minutes of arriving.
Needless to say my little episode wasn’t fatal – this time. But it sure put the fear of God into me! To be clear, I did not have a full-on coronary. I had an attack of angina. At the tender age of 32.
I’m fine. I feel bruised, as if I’d been kicked in the chest, and I’m covered in that sticky glue from the pads – how the fuck do you get that shit off, anyway? – but other than that I’m fine. There will be a massive overhaul to my current lifestyle of salted margaritas (my family doctor has insisted I give them up in favor of low-sodium martinis) and white bread.
My cholesterol is fine, my blood pressure is fine, but this 60 extra pounds I’m hauling around in my ass has got to go.
That said, life continues apace. I try not to wallow when I’m ill, because that makes people hate you – there are already enough very valid reasons for people to hate me. So tomorrow I am off to The Mayor of Mitchieville’s annual blogger shindig. That is, God willing, if Arnie‘s mum remains stable. She, uh, had a heart attack last week. Huh.
Man, I have those angina attacks quite often and, YES, not only are they painful but they are scary! Glad to hear you are better.
You do?? That is strangely comforting. Wow. You’re not much older than I am, and in much better shape. I feel better already!!
RG
Oh and I meant to tell you, my angina attacks usually wake me up from a full on slumber in the middle of the night. So painful that I can BARELY roll out of bed to get up and walk it off. Yeah, scary scary scary! Did I mention very painful too? LOL Have a great weekend.
Okay- time to wake up and pay attention, it seems.
I got my own wake up call at 42, only in my case I did have a full blown coronary. Nothing like a healthy reminder that the pump could shut down at any time to get one’s attention, eh?
Anyway, I hope you’re feeling better. Sounds like there’s nothing wrong a little fine tuning can’t fix.
You’re too young (and bright)(don’t let it go to your head)do whatever to get well girl.
Mark
If they don’t do an angiogram you may want to cross over to MI or Buffalo and get worked up right.
Good luck. Many women don’t get classic symptoms. You were lucky.
Thanks epador. I’ll be seeing a specialist in 3 weeks. I’ll let you know if travel is in my future!
RG
I complained of chest pains to my doctor a year and a half ago, and before I knew it I was being hauled by ambulance to the hospital. No, I didn’t have a heart attack. But the service was very good, including all the follow up appointments. Hope you check out OK too.
As much as I love your writings, perhaps you should take a vacation from combating liberalism? Nothing pisses me off, gets my heart racing, makes my temples spasim like listening to Obama (PBUH) or Pelosi, or Frank, or Dodd, or Layton, or Lynch……..
Even soldiers get R&R and time away from the front lines.
SO glad you’re ok, considering. I went through the same thing on July 1st. Although they found nothing wrong. So wtf knows. As for the sticky crap? Either let it wear off/pick at it or use a little bit of rubbing alcohol. That should do the trick.
We all (well most) love you Wendy and want you to be around for a long time to come.
Hey there. That’s an amazing story. After you got after the initial shock of having a heart, how long did it take for you to transition to the “I can’t live without it” stage?
In all seriosity ™, I’m glad you’re OK, but here’s hoping you can nip this in the bud and stay with us for a long, long time. Twitter needs you.
Johnny
Hi Wendy, glad to hear that you’re feeling better. Take it slow and easy for a little while. We haven’t talked for a while but in May I was burned out of the house I was renting a room and while couch surfing and looking for a new place slipped and fell in a friends bath and fractured some ribs. Still a little sore but had a tough time at the anti Obama rally and felt a little better at the anti UCC rally. New computer up and running so not relying on the limited time one can get at the library.
If an old guy like me can get better, so can you, just be careful.
My prayers are with you.
MWH
In fact, you cannot get the sticky stuff from the leads off. Only thing that clings to you more than a Democrat going for your wallet
Be grateful that unlike me (a guy) you are not covered with chest hair, which compounds the problem. So after shaving, I got the rest off with cotton balls soaked in rubbing alcohol.
Funnay how so many of us here had the same symptoms recently (mine was three weeks ago). Talking about BHO and healthacre only makes my health get worse.
Thanks for keeping up the fight.
I’ve used peanut butter to get gum out of my kids hair. Might work with sticky adhesives. The zone diet helped me lose 45 lbs. The only recipe I liked was their breakfast shake. The rest of the time I just made up my own meal recipe following their guide on protein, fat, and carb blocks. (Trust me, it’s easier, tastier and less expensive). On weekends I didn’t follow the diet and ate or drank whatever I felt like. 3 months later I was 45 lbs lighter, and had a ton of energy. Good luck.
Take care of yourself and try not to get too worked up – I know how that is – sometime when I hear what’s going on in the Obama-nation and here at home my blood boils too – but just breathe deep and keep speaking out. Oh – and the sticky stuff will come off with a bit of good eye makeup remover.
Mom’s angioplasty went well, she is recovering nicely. I will pick her up tomorrow morning and she will stay with us for a few days. My brother will watch over her Saturday evening while we are in Acton.
Sorry to hear this. Hope you start taking care of yourself now. When we are young, we tend to think we will live forever, until something like what you experienced gives you a jolt and forever changes your way of looking at food and life-style. Take care.
Having been through something similar, my first advice would be start taking about 6 fish oil capsules a day, in about a year cut it back to 3 a day.
you could also consider taking the low dose asprin daily.
re losing weight, don’t try to do it with diet alone, my advice there is, if you don’t ride a bicycle, start. you will be surprised how soon you start to enjoy it and it is very low impact on your knees.
Lurker coming out of hiding to wish you all the best; do, please, take good care of yourself! And thank you for a very enjoyable blog.
Mike died,tornados down the street,hurricane Bill coming at me & now Right Girl could really disrupt my morning coffee & evening nightcap.Take of yourself Wendy,some of us,jeesus don’t want to say we miss you!
Good Lord, no wonder you have been being a deadbeat. Come on, RG, I depend on you. Remember who is important here.
BTWILYAHYAFGETMM.
Sorry to hear about it. I can relate. I have had two angina attacks in the past 3 months and they have both scared the crap out of me. I’m 43 and thought my life was going to end one weekend. After a CT scan, chest x-rays, EKG and whatever other device they could think of to point at me, I ended up with a shrug from the doctors and the advice to ‘take it easy and eat right’.
Good thing I still have my pre-Obama health insurance with just a $100 copay and plenty of doctors on staff to help me out when I walk in the door with chest pains.
I had a similar experience in the early nineties. It was a pinched nerve after everything was checked. But all the symptoms indicated the heart was going a bit haywire. The ER at Whidbey Genreal had me hooked up to all kinds of machines. And an IV port that was doing double duty. It had the regular place for the drip and one to pull blood out of. I was in my late thirties then.
I am truly glad that you are doing well. Things like this are scarey indeed.
Great to hear it was not a coronary, Wendy.
I wish you well.
Geez Wendy, I can’t say whether I have ever had an angina attack, but I can tell you all about GOUT.
Gout is said to be brought on by rich food, but I swear it’s brought on by red wine.
Surprisingly gout is not an old geezers ailment either, I am told.
Talking about old geezers, I had an intersting experience in Mississauga on Thursday this week with the young facial jeweled lady in the store I was in.
Enjoy your Bloggers palooza, at Mitchieville, I am sure it will be an interesting and fun time.
All the best.
Joe Molnar, in Woodstock.
Post Script:
Thank God you are ok! As far as the ass-fat goes…race walking really does curb the appetite. There is just something about the intense sweating, leg and ass cramps and extreme nausea that takes care of that “I sure could use a fudge brownie” feeling.
Be careful about the diagnosis. Many illnesses can simulate the pain of angina. After 30 years in cardiology I can tell you that a 32 year old woman rarely has the athrosclerotic lesions that cause coronary ischemia. You could certainly have coronary artery spasm which is typically brought on by stress. Make sure that a stress test is preformed. This would be a good screen to see if something is truly wrong. Look for other problems such as gallbladder disease, actually a better diagnosis considering your age and weight status. Most of the patinet’s I have seen that develop illness young have a very prominent family history of coronary disese at very young ages.
I’ve had two heart attacks. The pain you describe is very much like the pain of a full-blown heart attact. They hurt like hell making you think you’re going to die right on the spot, then ease up almost with a palpable rush that leaves you warm all over. At this point you think, “Man, I’m glad that’s over.” Then you have another one. So you drive to the hospital ER where you collapse outside between the parking lot and the door. Six days later you wake up in a hospital room and are told they had to shock the hell out of you 11 times to get the old ticker started again. Then they tell you you’re lucky it was a slow night when you popped in. Usually, they only jump-start cardiac patients 8 times – Max.
I have a suggestion for the adhesive. It may sound very strange, but try hair conditioner. I had had an accident with a spray adhesive can at work, and nothing was getting it out. I was in the shower and I read the ingredients on the conditioner bottle (I don’t even normally use the stuff, but I read everything), and thought it couldn’t hurt. Something in it dissolved the adhesive, and it came out of my hair and eyebrows like nothing.
Get well Wendy. Take care of your awesome self. Not only does Canada need you, we poor bastards down her in the states need you too. I’ll be keeping a good thought for you. Thanks for being there.
Thanks everyone for your good wishes and advice. The adhesive is OFF!! Greayjohn, glad you’re enjoying Brass Balls Radio – I have such a good time recording it every week. Paul Mitchell – I think I understood about half of that acronym. So for what I understood, thanks. ?
RG
The tape-sticky will come off, try acetone (nail polish remover) if that doesn’t work try Tapeoff (brand name). In any event, it will wear off with time.
To those who say you are too young. My Uncle Bill died of his fourth heart attack at the age of 36, the first one was when he was 18. He had scars on his chest from surgeries. They can completely surprise everyone. He didn’t smoke or drink.
[...] RIGHT GIRL– Who knew RightGirl even had a heart?; It’s the terrorism, stupid …. [...]
Glad to hear that you got through this episode OK. As for the adhesive, there is a product called “Uni-Solve” that comes in a bottle and in pads. Great stuff, but one (US) hospital I stayed in didn’t seem to know anything about it. If your local medical supply place doesn’t have it there are lots of options for ordering it at amazon.com. Handy stuff to have around any time, but especially if you’re facing a round of tests.
[Insert warm fuzzy things that I don't express well here.]
[...] Holy crap. [...]
I’m glad you’re fine, but the weight really has to come off. I,ve quite a peoblem with that myself so…..
Uh that,s ‘problem’
Your body is giving you a message. Now it’s time to act. Take care! You’re the best!
For God’s sake Wendy, don’t leave us.
We need you.
Come to the US to get your ticker and other things checked out–before Euro-Canadian glop hits here.
You’ll be seen in 15 minutes if you like.
Have some red wine at the end of each day, too. Keeps the ticker cleansed!