July 9, 2021
I am a 59 yr old Asian woman. My mother-in-law moved in in January 2021. She has moderate dementia. We had an argument. It was a layer upon layer of stress coming to this point on that day. It happened around 3:30 pm. I had chest pains, massive headache, massive jaw pain and left arm pain. Looking back, I had left arm pain when I went to bed. I had indigestion. I went to lay down to see if that would help. My husband happened to be home from work early, Thank God!
I didn’t feel any better. I looked up symptoms of a heart attack for women. I texted my sister-in-law who is a nurse, she wanted me to call an ambulance. She came to take care of her mother. My husband took me to ER. Once I arrived at the ER, they took me in for triage. Took EKG, moved me right out back and there were tons of people in room. One person on each side trying to draw blood, EKG, get undressed, chest X-ray, chew these 4 tabs (aspirin), iv catheter placed, and dr talking to me saying I need to sign this and I am going to cath lab! I signed and was pushed through halls, Gregg and escort went to left and I went to right to cath lab.
Introduced to two techs and dr. Handoff from those three people to the cath lab people. Strapped my right arm and shaved right side groin. Prepped. Gave me some versed and fentanyl IV. They inserted catheter in my right artery into my heart and injected dye. I felt warm all over. Then it was done and I was in hall on the gurney waiting for a room. I was in a room by 6:15pm. Crazy!
I asked nurse what they found. SCAD. They did not place a stent. Said I would heal on my own. I asked what would happen if I didn’t come in? She said I wouldn’t still be here. I am home recovering. It happened July 1 and I was home by July 3. Waiting for cardiac rehab. Discontinued my hydrochlorothiazide ( potassium draining) added aspirin, lisinopril, atorvastatin and clopidogrel and nitroglycerin prn.