General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBack in December I had a heart attack.
Initially I thought I was having a weird Covid thing, but it was a classic heart attack. I live in a city, Santa Fe, NM, where we have many wonderful cardiologists. I actually wound up with a cardiologist I already knew socially, lucky me.
At the time, I was hesitant to go the the ER in part because I was concerned that the Covid crisis might mean I couldn't be treated properly. Fortunately, my heart attack occurred in a lull in Covid. And yes, I was treated very well. Got a stent. Spend three days in the hospital and went home in excellent health.
And even though I live in New Mexico, where Covid is currently more or less under control, I do sometimes think about, What if I had another heart issue and needed to go to the ER?
Enter stage left
(3,389 posts)and, I absolutely love the Santa Fe area.
I'm envious, but we'll be back. (As full time rv'ers, we are all over the map)
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,746 posts)Heart disease is rampant in my family, so this should not have been a surprise.
I am fortunate to have moved here after the ending of my marriage more than a decade ago. Most of us don't get the opportunity to move to the place we most want to be, but I was incredibly fortunate to be able to do exactly that.
Enter stage left
(3,389 posts)PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,746 posts)It was a great choice.
When I realized my marriage was coming to an end I visited several parts of the country to decide where I wanted to live. I checked out part of the Pacific Northwest, mainly Oregon, and then the East Coast. I was in the incredibly fortunate position to move wherever I liked. I did not have a career, having spent some 25 years as a stay at home mom, and so I didn't have the kinds of limitations many working people would have had.
I had been to Santa Fe several times earlier, attending the summer program at St. John's College. I have often told people that Santa Fe kept calling my name.
I have had the good fortune to live in various parts of the country in my life. And while I absolutely do not want to disparage someone who spent their entire life in one place, I honestly think that living in different places has given me an advantage. I was born in Utica, NY, and when I was seven years old we moved some ten miles north to the small town of Holland Patent. When I was fourteen my mother moved to Tucson, AZ, with the five kids still at home. My older brother was in the army at that point. My father was an alcoholic who was becoming more abusive, and Mom realized that she had to get us kids out. She was a nurse, and knew she could find work wherever she went.
Mom become a touchstone for me. I realized that she rescued us. There was a lot of sacrifice involved. Back then, in the early 1960s, nurses did not make very much money. Mom took on every additional shift she could get. Sometimes I didn't see her for several week at a time, because her normal shift was 3pm to 11 pm, and when I got up in the morning to go to school, she was sound asleep, and had left for work by the time I got home. Plus, of course, whatever overtime she worked.
In my sophomore year of high school, I had a Saturday babysitting job, obtained through my high school. There had been a notice in the morning announcements about the position, and when I signed up I was discouraged because there were at least five or six students ahead of me. A few hours later I got a call from the school office, offering me the job. I will say that the school was very aware of my family's constrained finances, and had already scholarshipped our book bill. Anyway, the job paid three dollars for the day, which is not as dreadfully small an amount as it seems now, since this was in 1963, so is more like thirty bucks today. But here's more to the point. My mom drove me to their house in the morning, and the mom of that family drove me home. Most of the time i requested we stop at the nearby grocery store so I could buy food for the family. I recall the mom being astonished. She could not imagine her babysitter doing that. Bur our family's finances and food were so precarious that I could not imagine doing otherwise.
Honestly, I am hardly the heroine of this story, just a participant. This story is mostly about my amazing and courageous mother, and only trivially about me.
ALBliberal
(2,303 posts)We live in Albuquerque. My husband is on the verge of retirement. I absolutely love Albuquerque we have been here since 1980 having attended college at UNM. We grew up in Silver City NM. A lovely little town in SW New Mexico. Santa Fe is definitely a possibility for a move. We would still be close to my family here in Albuquerque but we would be in a smaller city and we feel that would be a good change for us. Santa Fe is a lovely place. For us, being near mountains is a must.
blm
(112,919 posts)PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,746 posts)Not sure what you mean.
blm
(112,919 posts)Bread Loaf/New Mexico is located at St. Johns College.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,746 posts)Although I have done Summer Classics there several times before I moved here.
blm
(112,919 posts)that I assumed you participated in Bread Loaf courses.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,746 posts)I have taken some writing workshops over the years, and grew up when things like grammar and sentence construction were taught. Lucky me.
Skittles
(152,964 posts)thank you
GPV
(72,377 posts)had the classic left arm or chest pain. Over a week she went from lightheaded and dizzy to nauseous. At the end, she just collapsed and died in my dads arms on the bathroom floor.
We thought she had a mild stomach bug. At no time did we consider getting medical help. I still kick myself to this day.
don't blame yourself.....I would not think that was a heart attack either, and we Americans, we always take cost into consideration when health issues arise
GPV
(72,377 posts)X07Y39-Alpha
(5 posts)I awoke with my chest hurting. Not too bad, just an ache. After a bit I noticed the ache was a little worse and the insides of my lower arms started to feel like they were burning. Then I broke out in a cold sweat. I told my wife and she called 911. Right up until the time the emergency responders told me I was having a heart attack, I did not fully believe I was having one. The pain did really start to increase on the ambulance ride, causing them to give me morphine.
Skittles
(152,964 posts)was it localized or did it feel spread out all over....and how are you doing now
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,746 posts)Classic heart attack symptoms.
Disaffected
(4,504 posts)With a feeling of nausea and anxiety. It spread into my right upper chest on the way to the hospital but the ambulance medics gave me several shots of nitro (under the tongue) and by the time we reached the hospital the pain had subsided.
Went shortly thereafter to the cath lab and had a single stent installed plus a balloon procedure.
Was in hospital a couple of weeks as was having a lot of side effects from the cocktail of meds (even had a brain scan as I was dizzy most of the time and had trouble walking). It took many weeks to sort the meds out but not doing too badly 1 1/2 years later.
My GP figured a lot of the trouble was caused by the statin I was prescribed (Lipitor) and the high dose I was started on (80 mg/d).
Heart attacks ain't no fun but it could have been a lot worse - I lost only a minor degree of heart function.
Moral of story is if you have symptoms that even may be signs of a heart attack, don't procrastinate in getting treatment as timing is life & death critical.
Skittles
(152,964 posts)sometimes I have jaw pain.....comes and goes....I will run it by my doc
Disaffected
(4,504 posts)Heart attack pain can present itself in many ways including no pain at all ("silent" heart attack). If you need a stent or bypass far better to get it before an attack occurs.
blm
(112,919 posts)Its a tough time to be a patient anywhere.
malaise
(267,800 posts)Be kind to yourself - exercise and watch what you eat.
MLAA
(17,163 posts)Here is a must read book! If you have any trouble getting it send me a message and I will send you one. Ive followed this program for years. After husband had a heart attack 2 years ago he is now on board! It is called Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.
https://smile.amazon.com/Prevent-Reverse-Heart-Disease-Nutrition-Based/dp/1583333002/ref=sr_1_4?crid=R2XKZT99MPJK&dchild=1&keywords=prevent+and+reverse+heart+disease+by+caldwell+esselstyn+cookbook&qid=1628942675&sprefix=Prevent+and+re%2Caps%2C269&sr=8-4
Nevilledog
(50,663 posts)crickets
(25,896 posts)especially since it happened during Covid. Stay safe & well. 🌻