Case Summary  |  Heart Attack and Symptons You should not Ignore

For about a week I was feeling some light pressure on my chest and a dull ache in my left arm. This would come and go and as a typical man I thoughty if it went away then I was ok. I kept saying to people at work that I needed to go get checked but when the feeling subsided I went back to my normal day. One Friday on the way out I got to the end of the aisle and had a hard time catching my breath. still not enough to alarm into a doctor visit I went home watched TV and finally settled down for a good night's sleep. I woke up and that pressure and dull ache in my arm came and went but more often. I knew I had to do something as I finally recognized this was not good..
I went to the emergency room told them I had pressure on my chest and they went into action. Blood tests a nitor patch and I'm not sure what else. The next thing I knew I was in a bed waiting for the results of the blood test and a talk with the cardiologist. The doctor came in and asked a few questions, the first one was have you taken aspirin today. I had and he said " Good," He explained what he thought was going on and said the blood test showed I had a heart attack but that I was stable now. He said that he belived I had a blockage and would put a stent in the next day. Trying to put the stent in he grunted and said my blockage was too close to the aorta and he couldn't chance a puncture. On Monday I would have bypass surgery to corrcet what eneded up being a triple by pass. Thge good news was that after teh surgery the doctor said he did not see nay visible damage to the heart and that it started back up as soon as he reattached it.

The hard part was ahead of me, a lifestyle change, more exercise, change of diet etc.

Moral of the story, as soon as you suspect something is wrong get checked out, no one will think less of you if it turns out to be nothing, but fats action and some aspirin may save your life. I was lucky and now don't hesitate to get checked out.