Last week I heard the story of a 56-year-old man who went to bed with a slight feeling of tightness in his chest. During the night, he had a massive heart attack and passed away. He left behind a devastated wife and kids.
Sadly, this horrible story is not unique. In fact, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates 17 million people around the world die of cardiovascular disease (CVD), particularly heart attacks and strokes, every year.
If there’s anything to gain from this ordeal, it’s that you must not ignore any symptoms.
Which brings me to my photo – this is me last year, two years after my heart event, visiting the ER at the local hospital after feeling middle-chest pain on breathing. After a few hours it didn’t go away, so my caring sister agreed to drive me to the hospital, leaving my wife to stay home with the kids (it was after 11pm). After many tests and an X-ray, I was cleared of anything serious. Even though I was held captive in ER for over 5 hours after waiting for two blood tests to come back from the busy lab, I was able to breathe easier. The blood tests are mainly used for measuring levels of troponins as these are the proteins released when a heart has been damaged.
Here's what happened at the ER:
Heart patients get priority. I was allocated a bed, hooked up to a machine and was in the system to be monitored until I could be attended to. It was only an hour until a doctor came to see me.
At the time, the number of tests seemed endless. They took my blood and sent it to the hospital lab, it then took over an hour to get the results back
Next they took my blood again, to see if the numbers have changed or if they're stable. That’s another hour wait.
Then there’s the EKG to check your heart rhythm
Then a chest x-ray as well.
They're very thorough! They want to make sure that you only leave if you’re not going to come back.
So, what symptoms warrant a visit to the ER? This heart attack action plan by the Australian Heart Foundation is really helpful. Basically if you're in doubt, go to the ER! ER nurses are very supportive and they won't think you're being too cautious, they understand it's not worth the risk of not getting checked out. Listen to your body – if you feel anything strange or irregular, get it checked out. The alternative can be devastating.
It’s quite possible that you’ll end up having indigestion or something totally unrelated to the heart, but you’ll never know unless you get a thorough ER check-up. For me, it appears it was a muscle tear in the chest (not the heart muscle) from a strenuous gym session earlier in the day, and I’ve experienced this since – so now I know not to be concerned when it occurs. My mind is at rest.
For those who haven’t experienced any heart event, you can read more about heart attacks, cardiac arrest and the signs and symptoms on the Australian Heart Foundation website. The Heart Foundation tells us that the symptoms and signs are:
Chest discomfort or pain (angina). This can feel like uncomfortable pressure, aching, numbness, squeezing, fullness or pain in your chest. This discomfort can spread to your arms, neck, jaw or back. It can last for several minutes or come and go
Dizziness, light-headedness, feeling faint
Nausea, indigestion, vomiting
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing – with or without chest discomfort
Sweating or a cold sweat.
A RECAP ON ME:
After a long career as a creative in the advertising industry, I transitioned into investing in property and innovative businesses. I created this blog Keepingthebeat.life to inspire and educate people who have experienced a setback, and especially those who've experienced a heart event.
Take care & ensure you keep the beat pumping with your dreams 👍👍👍
DISCLAIMER:
If you’re looking to get medical treatment or change your lifestyle based on any information brought to you by this blog, please check with your GP beforehand.
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