February 20, 2024
I was diagnosed with SCAD almost 3 years ago. The morning of 9/24/21 I woke up like any other morning and was getting ready for work. About 5 minutes into my day I felt the wind knocked out of me then came chest pain then jaw pain and that’s when I knew something was wrong. I immediately asked my husband to take my kids to school worried that if something was going to happen they would witness it. I then went to the ER and threw up right before I entered. I was quickly admitted and they began taking my vitals everything looked good as they said.
But my discomfort was consistent i persisted the doing another EKG and I expressed that I had no idea what was going on but I didn’t feel well. 3 EKG and some blood work detected my heart attack. I was rushed to the cath lab where they placed 3 stents in my artery that was 99 percent blocked.
My life changed forever that day but boy I had no idea how frustrating of a journey this would be. I started cardiac rehab this began the start of my journey it helped and I felt safe there as I began to learn about my body and this new norm. But outside of that, I was on autopilot visiting my new doctors and learning about my new medications and how I needed to take them. But no matter how many doctors I met no one could answer my question WHY did this happen? My doctor even told me that I would need to be ok not knowing what happened because no one knows enough about my condition.
Frustrating is an understatement for what I feel along with the anxiety and fear that it can happen again and this time it will be worse. The PTSD one experiences from any traumatic event is so real and then not being able to get answers amplify things even more. I’ve connected with SCAD groups in hopes of learning more and maybe even meeting a Dr who knows something more than what I have googled and read. I even tried reaching out at the Mayo Clinic but since getting an appt can be hard but then the cost that follows because they don’t take my insurance is frustrating. How is it that the place that can help me not be able to?
But for now, I show myself the patience and grace to take things one day at a time.