A Heart Attack Experience

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devonwoody

Established Member
Joined
11 Apr 2004
Messages
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Location
Paignton Devon
Thursday 9th June 2005.

Got up at usual time and had my breakfast (two slices of toast and glass of orange squash) Looked in at the ubeat and UKworld woodworker sites.
Second good day of summer weather in the UK so decided to cut our front hedge.

Brief medical history:-
cholestrol = 4.75 (about 5% above average)
blood pressure = normal for age.
weight = around 6kgs overweight.
67 years of age.
No previous history.

Cut the hedge which goes to a height in places of 2 mtrs. and the job took
1 &1/2 hours, slightly longer than normal and 25% more waste bags were needed. I put my tools away and went to the bathroom for a shower, just before stepping into the shower I thought to myself I don't feel right.
AND THEN the chest pain arrived (its stronger than an indegestion pain) and breathing changed (it holds like an asthma attack at each deep breath)
I managed to get out of the bathroom quick and sat in a lounge chair and the wife fortunately appeared.

After repeated requests for cold flannels from the bathroom and pain not reducing we suggested a doctor call (15 minutes after start of any pain) who advised calling of an ambulance with his authority. The ambulance with two qualified paramedics arrived within 5 minutes who noted it was a chest pain call and immediately slapped on an oxygen mask. This is followed by an injection in the stomach of an anti coalesence drug to thin the blood. Final paramedic treatment was then a spray under the tongue to see if Angina pain disperses
but no significant reduction so morphine is then introduced via a special feeding tube at the back of the wrist. Pain feeling is still there but is now acceptable.
Transfer to the ambulance then proceeds and an ecg reading is taken which also transmits direct to the local hospital and the driver is then instructed which hospital he is to proceed to for treatment which I assume depends on the ECG reading

Had a lovely time at the hospital , this hospital practised unisex wards for chest pain patients.
No further attacks took event for me and an exploratry examination took place 3 days later followed the next day with a stent being inserted in an heart artery after a widening process had taken place.

If anyone wants to hear of my nightime experiences in the general type mixed ward over the 7days and nights I would be delighted to relate those times to you. Much laughter and tears however took place.

The thread above was written to inform any none experienced readers of what an heart attack is like but bearing in mind my own attack was most probably quite a minor trauma.
__________________
 
Glad to hear you made it though OK, DW! Must have been pretty scary.

Take it easy - we don't need to be losing any members around here :)
 
Dev, I'm glad you posted that, who knows what's around the next corner. Very glad you're on the mend and take things easy for a while.

Best regards

Noel
 
Gald you're OK dw. I have some minor heart problems, so I've always wary of anything that might be my ticker playing up again.

Look after yourself.
 
Hi DW ... real glad you got through it.
Thanks so much for relating your symptoms and experience - its one of those things I hope I never need to know but .............
No looking back, enjoy each day!!
Best wishes
John
 
DW
I am pleased to hear that you are here to tell the tale. That must have been a very scary experience. Glad it was just a small event in the scale of these things.
Best wishes.

SF
 
DW - all the best. My Dad had a big one a few years back - "hell of a quick way to give up smoking", was his description. At the time I remember thinking that the paramedics in the UK these days are awesome - they really know their stuff. I now know that it makes an enormous difference to heart attack recovery if you get the right treatment and *fast*. Sounds like you had a similar experience.
 
That must have been a very worrying time, but thankfully your wife was on hand. What if you had been alone, or out in your car? Many people know how to perform CPR on others, but were you trained to help yourself if the need arises? The following may help:

"Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness.

However, you can help yourself by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken before each cough and the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest.

A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let-up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again.

Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating.

The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital."


Ray.
 
Argee messge:

Thanks for that advice, I can recall that sensation, perhaps I was fortunate because I decided to run for the armchair I didnt want to collapse on the floor inside a bathroom and remain unnoticed.

I kept squeezeing my toes.

Hope this thread is not boring to others.
 
DW - not at all: glad it turned out ok: it must have been pretty scary, to put it mildly... Carpe diem, and all that!
 
DW, Ray and others

I feel woefully ignorant about possibly fatal but survivable medical conditions. Your postings are most helpful, I didn't know about the deep breath/cough routine for example. I trust you are still on the mend DW

Best wishes, Bob
 
DW, Boring? not at all. There is always something to learn from these events and Ray's advice might help someone some day. Also important to understand that heart attacks are not the exclusive preserve of the older generation.

get well soon.

Andy
 
Hi Devon,

This to do to know to you to my father doctors inserted two stents last december.
He had some breathlessness when he did some effort .
Doctors saw that he have few heart arteries narrowing.
They inserted two stents and now he leave normally like before.
The only important doctor advice is : eat light without oily/fat foods.

The Progress is a great when coming in medical field, especially.

Only for news, when I was just married (only one half month) just come back from the wedding travel in your country (England and Scotland) I had a car incident where I broken my kneecap and long bone of the upper leg.
If it would be been few decade ago, I'd have had my leg cut in a lot of parts to stick iron plates.
Actually it has repaired with a long iron inserted in the centre of the bone from the hip to knee. Hence I have only a very small cut on the hip I think as that for inserting the stent ( I think, I didn't see thet of my father :| )
After two years the iron has been removed.
 
Ray,

Thanks for that info; very handy. Not sure whether it's still received wisdom of whether they've changed the rules again :roll: , but my family all go round with 4 small soluble asprin to be given in case of heart attack. I gather they help thin the blood/get it flowing and the small size dissolve quicker and act faster I suppose. Anyway, fwiw, and if anyone knows better please do say; I wouldn't like to unwittingly make the situation worse! :shock:

Cheers, Alf
 
Hi DW

Sounds like a nightmare time for you. Hope you get back to full fitness soon.

All the best
 
Alf,

I am a Geneticist working in the field of Stroke Genetics. Your assertion that Asprin thins the blood is correct, indeed asprin treatment is generally recommended after a first stroke (depending on type and severity). I doubt that taking 4 asprin at the time of an attack will have any effect on the attack itself since clinical symptoms manifest after the event ie pain and breathlessness are physical signs something has already happened/is continuing to happen. However, I am not a medic, but a geneticist (scientist) so checking with your gp is the best bet :wink: Be aware that its probably best not to stuff 4 asprin into anyone else who is having what looks like a heart attack though, as they can interfere with or excacerbate effects of other medication, eg warfarin which also thins the blood.

FWIW heart attacks below 50 years are rare, but do occur. Risk factors you cannot change include family history, age, sex (male or female, not frequency!), risk factors you can change include SMOKING, diet, exercise, hypertension and diabetes. Best advice is to watch your weight and keep fairly active, and give up smoking if you can. Anyone over 60, and possibly 50, should have a yearly or half yearly checkup with your gp/practice nurse to monitor weight, cholesterol and blood pressure not only for cardiovascular disease risk but also for a wide range of conditions. There is no prophylactic treatment, although alot of Americans take a Statin drug regularly to reduce cholesterol, and TV adverts for them have started to appear in the UK, some people also take an asprin a day.

Time to start that long promised diet and lay off the booze as well as digging out the gym membership card (well maybe after Fathers Day!). Just dont make any sudden life style changes without consulting your gp first though - such as deciding to take up marathon running when the only running you usually do is running up a credit card bill!

Cheers,

Steve.
 
DW":18yjsfm3 said:
Hope this thread is not boring to others.

Not at all boring - just very glad you're OK. :D :D :D

chiba":18yjsfm3 said:
My Dad had a big one a few years back - "hell of a quick way to give up smoking", was his description.

So did mine (in 1977), but didn't survive. I was 13, he smoked, I have never wanted to. (Mods - feel free to delete this bit if it's deemed too depressing)

Cheers,

Pete
 
Alf, as far as I know aspirin does thin the blood but only if taken regularly.I take one tablet every day along with various other medications.
 
Alf":1dcxbjw3 said:
Ray,

Thanks for that info; very handy. Not sure whether it's still received wisdom of whether they've changed the rules again :roll: , but my family all go round with 4 small soluble asprin to be given in case of heart attack. I gather they help thin the blood/get it flowing and the small size dissolve quicker and act faster I suppose. Anyway, fwiw, and if anyone knows better please do say; I wouldn't like to unwittingly make the situation worse! :shock:

Cheers, Alf
I'm with StevieB here - once an attack has started, taking aspirin won't help at all. A daily tablet is taken to keep the blood slightly thinner, which can help slightly.

Since strokes were mentioned, many people don't know how to recognise one. This may assist:

"Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster.

The stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people nearby fail to recognise the symptoms of a stroke. A bystander can recognise a stroke by three simple actions:

Ask the individual to smile.
Ask him or her to raise both arms.
Ask the person to speak a simple sentence.

If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call an Ambulance immediately and describe the symptoms to the controller.

Widespread use of this test could result in prompt diagnosis, treatment of the stroke and the prevention of brain damage."


Ray.
 
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