Heart Attack

On Saturday 26th July, I was up very late (I keep pretty late hours because my M.E. has altered my internal time-clock) working on the videos about my “Bejewelled” card (see previous post). It was 3.30 a.m. and I thought I really should go to bed, despite being wide awake, if I was going to be up in time for church in the morning.

As I packed up my things and made ready for bed, I started to get a pain in the centre of my chest. We’d been out for lunch with Mum and I’d eaten quite a lot, and hadn’t felt at all hungry until about midnight, when I thought it was a bit late to start eating, and I thought it might be a sort of hunger-induced indigestion (when you get past hunger and don’t want anything) but it was quite bad, and I was in two minds about waking my hubby.

I decided to go to bed and hope it would pass off. I hardly slept at all, and had to get up at one point because of feeling extremely nauseous, although nothing came of that. The pain advanced up into my neck and lower jaw until all my bottom teeth were aching, and down my arms, where the pain was less severe, except for my left wrist which was very painful.

I stuck it out till 6 a.m. and then thought I really should wake my hubby, and he immediately called the doctor, who said an ambulance must be called right away. I was still in two minds about the whole thing, half of me thinking I was making a huge fuss about nothing, and wasting everybody’s time, and taking the ambulance service away from a genuine emergency, but they all said I’d done the right thing and mustn’t think that way.

During the day I was shunted from pillar to post, from A&E to the A&E admissions ward, and ultimately to the Chest Pain Unit (attached to Cardiac Care) where I am now. During this time I have been punctured and prodded, wired up and X-rayed, and seen by a variety of people, and told I had to stay in.

By the time I arrived at hospital the pain was quite a bit less but I was given some morphine via the cannula in my wrist, which helped a bit.

After two lots of bloods were taken, I saw the consultant this morning, who told me I’d definitely had a heart attack, and he was booking me in for a cardiac angiogram, possibly this afternoon, but in the end there wasn’t time to fit me in, so I’m due for it tomorrow afternoon, after which I will have to stay in another night, and depending on the result, I may be allowed home the following day. I may have to have a stent fitted.

I am now on two additional medications (in addition to a couple of injections) – aspirin and clopidogrel (a blood-thinning agent), so I am positively rattling!

At this moment I am feeling a lot better, and am comfortable in the most amazing bed with a magic remote control that can put me in any position – it’s so comfy that I said I wanted to take it with me when I go home! The nurse told me they have just got 300 new ones, and I said I was sure they wouldn’t miss one? I have been sleeping a good deal of the time, because of hardly getting any sleep at all on Saturday night, and feeling generally exhausted as a result of the whole experience. It is not that quiet at night in here, either, which doesn’t help, but I am putting my iPod earbuds in my ears which act as very effective earplugs.

My hubby has been popping in regularly, and brought my laptop this evening (hence this post), and brought Mum for a brief visit this evening. The minister from church visited earlier, which was a lovely surprise, and he prayed with me and we had a nice chat.

The staff here are amazing, as always – it’s funny to think I am in the same ward Dad was in briefly – he was only in for two or three days with his heart failure, back in the autumn of last year, but several of the remember him, which is really lovely. This hospital is a special place for me because it’s where my dad died, and I don’t feel at all negative about that, but especially close to him and full of good feelings about the wonderful way the staff treated him, and us, especially on the night of his death.

I am in a bay in the ward with only 2 beds and my “room mate” is a delightful Scottish lady of 93. We are getting on famously. My hubby brought some strawberries in this evening, which we are sharing.

It seems to be one thing after another with me these days – first the M.E., then ulcerative colitis being diagnosed last year, then my reflux problem and various other niggles, and now this… Still, I am a lot better than many and I continue to count my blessings daily.

Hope to be back home really soon, and with the medication, and the medics keeping an eye on me, I should be fine – there is no reason to think this experience will be repeated as long as I continue to follow their excellent instructions and “keep taking the tablets”!