Ask Lemmy

Definitely heart.

Here's my story, please take from it and do not do what I did... (LONG STORY)

First heart attack was 3 days after Thanksgiving, 2018. It presented as really bad heartburn. 24 hour a day heartburn. Unrelenting, unresponsive to Pepto heartburn.

In my defense it WAS 3 days after Thanksgiving, and I DID have that extra plate of sweet potatoes.

Monday, heartburn all day, hard to sleep.
Tuesday, same.
Wednesday, same + nausea and vomiting, called out sick from work (yes, I worked Mon/Tue).

Thursday... The heartburn pain moved into my upper arms, which I did not know was a thing. The pain in my chest was gone, but it felt like I had a STONE in the center of my chest, heavy, pulling down on my innards.

Advice line sent me to the ER, ER ran a simple Troponin blood test, normal is 0-99, mine was 328. Confirming the heart attack but at this point the damage was done and the only fix was an open heart bypass. Doc tells me the heavy feeling was my heart, each heartbeat was only pumping out 30% the normal amount which is right on the line between "walking around, talking to people", and no longer "walking around, talking to people."

Thu-Sun - Cardiac Ward.
Mon - Open Heart Surgery, ICU.
Tue - ICU.
Wed-Fri - Cardiac Ward, and back home.

1/2/2019 - I start having complications. If I lie down, I can't breathe, it's like I'm drowning in my own bed... BUUUUT... My company got acquired by a new one on 1/1 which meant my health insurance changed, I lost my hospital and all of my doctors and had to start over in a new medical system with the new insurance.

"Oh, you can't just 'go' to Cardology, you have to see primary care first, and there's a 3 month wait."

Twisted some arms, explained I just got cut open like a lobster and couldn't breathe, got an appt. in 2 weeks.

So I bought a fancy travel pillow and slept sitting up for 2 weeks since laying down would drown me.

Primary care checks me out, sends me home, says "Wait for my call." Call comes the next day... Congestive Heart Failure, get to the ER immediately.

I had developed an irregular heartbeat and my chest was full of fluid, when I would lay down, the fluid would level, crushing my heart and lungs. That feeling like I was drowning? Yeah, I was drowning, in my own chest fluid.

7 days in the hospital, they pulled 4 liters of fluid out EVERY DAY. 48 pounds of fluid.

Over the course of 2019 it was one complication after another after another. We continued juggling meds of different types and dosages.

By 2024 I had a bout where I was seriously out of breath, not like the CHF drowning thing, but I'd get out of breath walking to the bathroom.

Doc sends me to the ER where I have the 2nd heart attack. In the middle of a snow and ice storm. And a power outage.

"Did I just have a stroke?"

"Naw, it's cool, emergency generator just kicked in..."

Because of the snow and ice, I couldn't get to my preferred hospital, I had to go to the closest one, which wasn't the best one.

They did confirm the heart attack, and ran an angiogram to confirm I needed a stent, but couldn't do the stent. I'd have to be ambulanced to the GOOD hospital for the stent.

BUUUT... emergency services were overloaded due to the storm and the ambulance couldn't get there right away.

First night in the hospital... wake up at 6 AM, fiddling around on my phone, hey, Lemmy aint gonna moderate itself!

Nurse comes in:

"Were you asleep about an hour ago?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Your heart rate dropped to 40."

"Ummm... is that bad? I don't know these things."

Yeah, it's bad.

So ambulance still can't get there... One more night in the hospital. Same deal. Next morning, same nurse comes in.

"Were you asleep about an hour ago?"

"Yeah, why? Heart rate again?"

"No, your heart stopped for 8 seconds."

"Ummm... 'thank you'? I don't know what the correct response is to 'your heart stopped'. Shouldn't the alarms and stuff have gone off? I don't remember hearing anything."

"Oh, they don't go off in the room, they went off at the nurses station."

Ambulance finally arrived, got me to the GOOD hospital, and I got the stent and survived.