I have a story to share. When I retired five years ago I embraced a fairly sedentary lifestyle. I baked regularly, gained some extra weight and began to "feel my age". I blamed bad knees and getting older on the fact that climbing stairs became increasingly difficult for me. I blamed my newly found sedentary life for getting out of breath on short walks with my husband. I had a logical answer for all of the aches and pains that were bothering me.
One day last spring as I was climbing the cellar stairs I became more short of breath than usual and felt a lump in my throat. You know when you are fighting back tears because you don't want to cry and you get a lump in your throat? That kind of a lump. A few days later I was at a routine visit with my primary care and mentioned that I was feeling old and really out of shape. We talked and I shared the stair climbing incident and she said that because of my family history (my mom had several heart attacks and there is heart disease on both sides of my family), the fact that I was being treated for both hypertension and high cholesterol, she wanted me to see a cardiologist just to check things out.
On June 4th I met with a wonderful cardiologist who assured me that I was neither old or grossly overweight or "that" out of shape. (I immediately fell a little bit in love with him!!) He wanted me to have a test called a Coronary Calcium Heart scan. The scan would tell if there were calcium deposits in the arteries of my heart. Because the scan only tells if and where the deposits are, and not how large they are or if they are blockages, there are no insurance companies that will cover the cost. The average cost of the scan is $400-$500. However, where I live the doctors believe in the scan and realize that most people don't have that kind of money, so they offer the scan for $120. At first I wasn't going to have the test done... after all, how good and reliable is it if no insurance company will cover any portion of it? But, I have a husband who takes very good care of me and he wanted me to have the test. So I did.
On June 25th I had the scan...it was simple and took about 15 minutes. Really? What's not to pay for? On August 7th I met with my cardiologist to get the results. The scan showed that I had several "spots" of calcium. We had no idea how large or small they were and the only way to find out was to have a heart catherization, which I had on August 14th. The catherization showed that I had two eighty five percent blockages in my heart and the surgeon inserted three stents to open them up. I also have a few much smaller deposits that cannot be "fixed" because of their small size.
Immediately after surgery I felt so much better... so much better. I did not know how bad I felt until I didn't feel bad anymore. It was (and is) an amazing feeling.
So, why am I sharing all of this with you? Because I was told over and over that men present with left arm pain and chest pain but women do not present "normally" or even "similarly" for coronary artery disease. They are so different... rarely do they have arm or chest pain, it's more often jaw or back pain or flu like symptoms, to mention a few. Here is list of the most common signs for women. You will notice that having a lump in your throat is not one of the warning signs on this list. When I left the hospital I was told that a lump in my throat is my heart attack warning... unless, of course, I'm trying not to cry! I want you all to know that if you are not feeling up to par, if you find yourself out of breath or not being able to do things as easily as you once could, don't chalk it up to getting older or being inactive or being overweight... get yourself checked out. Better safe than sorry. Better sooner rather than later. Better alive than not.
As a follow up to my surgery and now that I am feeling better I am participating in a twelve week cardiac rehab... an exercise, nutrition and lifestyle program. I have changed my eating and cooking habits, I exercise thirty minutes three times a week, I am more active (not a lot, but a little... baby steps) and I've lost twenty two pounds. Climbing the cellar stairs is no longer a challenge, hubby and I can walk for forty five minutes comfortably and without stopping to rest.
My plea to you is to please pay attention to your body and if you aren't feeling well, get yourself checked out. If you have a primary care provider who pooh-poohs your concerns or complaints, find someone else who will listen to you and address your worries. Take care of yourselves... please.
Thanks for dropping by...
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