Comments on: Welcome…to my story

By: Patrick J. Fox

Patrick J. Fox — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:29:11 +0000

Bob:
I am not a doctor… but I am a proud survivor of the “The Widow Maker”. From what I have learned since my “moment” on March 31,2008 it depends on your connection to any of the 6 risk factors generally accepted as heart attack indicators. If before your heart attack you had one or more of the risk factors and you have not decided to take the risk factors serious you are bound to experience round 2 sooner rather than later. If on the other hand you have started to correct risk factors… the likely hood of round 2 goes down with every effort to correct.

Good Luck Bob… stay focused on limiting the risk factors and you will have a long and very happy life.

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:43:58 +0000

I’m a 50 year old man and I had the widow maker one week and a day ago. 100% sudden blockage of the LAD. I had angioplasty and a stent inserted. If I hadn’t lived 2 miles from a hospital with a heart cath lab, it would have been a different result. My sincere thanks to the Montgomery County Texas EMT’s and Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital.

My question is, whats the probablity of it happening again?

By: Damon

Damon — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 19:10:56 +0000

Just a quick follow up. I was mistaken, they flood you with so much information in the hospital and I was fairly drugged by meds and my own adrenaline. What I had was a 100% occlusion of the LAD. Nothing about ascending and descending. I misheard Lateral Anterior Descending and confused it with ascending and descending. It was indeed a “widow maker” though.

By: Joel Robbins

Joel Robbins — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 21:04:02 +0000

I am 44 and am a survivor of The Widow Maker. August 25, 2010 was nearly my last day here on earth. I had some shortness of breath on and off for around a month, but thought it was just due to the heat and some medication I was put on for a short while.

I, too, ignored the pains for about 30-45 minutes. Luckily, my wife called 911 – because I had waited way too long and now could not breathe and was numb in both of my arms. I ignored it for soooo long because, I’m 44….I can’t be having a heart attack, right?! I am so lucky to be alive.

I had wonderful medical from the first responders, to the EMTs, to the ER Dr and RNs, the Cardiologist, to the Cath Lab Dr and RNs, to the ICU RNs and the PCU RNs. I am very blessed.

I describe the pain as 1) the worst I’ve ever felt, times 1,000,000. 2) like a cowboy boot heel being pressed into my chest just as hard as can be.

I thank first and foremost, God Almighty for letting me survive and for putting the skilled people in place to save my life. Everyone involved in my care, you have my everlasting thanks and respect. To my loving wife….I can’t say enough….you are the best and I will continue to thank you for the rest of my life…and I plan to make that a very long life! To my son, 8, and my daughter, 7, I am so sorry you had to witness Daddy feeling so bad. I pray that the memory of that night will fade away and you’ll see Daddy stronger and stronger.

This seemed to come from no where…there is some history of heart disease in my family, but all at a much older age.

I urge people to believe it can happen to the younger crowd too. Listen to and believe your body.

I’d like to congratulate all of the other Widow Maker survivors. I am proud to be part of this “club”

I had 100% blockage in my LAD and am now the owner of one stent.

God Bless Clarian Hospital and the Drs. and RNs. Thank you all for the rest of my life!

By: Shannon

Shannon — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 10:18:16 +0000

My 39 year old husband just had a heart attack on Tues night 8-24-10. He had 100% blockage in his LAD which required 3 stents.

He was training for a marathon, has never, ever smoked, eats well and is fit. He had been managing high cholest. with his Dr. through diet and excrcise to avoid being on drugs the rest of his life. He has some family history with 2 Uncles having heart attacks, but this came as a complete shock to us. Apparently, genetics won out on this…and now he had a heart attack and will still be on drugs for the rest of his life.

He felt pain in his lower rib area after a short run and we wavered for about 30-45 minutes before I finally drove him to the ER…to check out his possible heart burn. Thank God he is alive to watch our 3 year old grow up. We have been together for 18 years…half of my life and I can’t imagine life without my very best friend.

He is home and doing amazingly well, with few restrictions, but I am now trying to process all of this. The what-if’s and how to move forward after such a close call. Thank you all for your posts. I will pick up the book tomorrow.

By: Norman Draper

Norman Draper — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 01:53:31 +0000

I had one of these things on July 28. I mentioned to the doctor (while I was on the table and he was in my heart) that 24 hours before I had been in the middle of a 45 minute run/row. I was realeased on August 1 from the hospital, and went back to work a week later (I’m an ocean lifeguard). I feel wonderful…. I plan on leading a long life that continues to be as wonderful as it was before the widow maker visited me.

By the way, I’ve run 50 marathons, although the last one was 12 years ago. My first day back at work included a brisk 25 minutes walk, which I’ve continued to do every day.

By: Theresa K

Theresa K — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:41:20 +0000

My husband had a widow maker heartattack Friday Aug 20,2010. Today is Sunday the 22nd. He is doing really well got out of ICU last night. The doc told us he had a 100% blockage and if the emt’s had of been 15 minutes longer he would have died. He actually had to be “shocked” in the er on the way to the cath lab to have his stents but in. We were told they have 90 min to fix them, they did his in 47 min. He is also 48 years old. We are doing really good now but I know we will have a long recovery. But God is Good and he lined everything and everyone up just as he wanted them so he is alive today with me to raise our 2 and 10 year old children. I am studying everything now to make sure this doesn’t happen again I pray. God Bless!!!

By: Damon

Damon — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 18:36:27 +0000

I turned 36 on June 25th 2010. I had what I now know to be a full blown angina attack out on the golf course on June 2nd of the same year. I was having chest pains (burning) and weight on my chest a little prior to this attack and also after. I had a full physical including a 12 EKG on July 9th. Nothing showed and my PCP dismissed it as Acid Reflux. I was having weird pain under my right breast, around to my right back shoulder blade etc. On Aug 1st all of a sudden the pain was in my back just under my ribcage. From all my research I figured I was having Gallbladder issues. I woke up on August 2nd around 7:30 a.m. to use the bathroom and felt light headed. Something inside me didn’t let me go back to sleep, so I put on the tv, still light headed and smoked a cigg. I had been cutting down a ton in the past month, going some days with none. Mid way through the cigarette I got cold sweats and all of a sudden a severe pain in my chest, more right sided. Stupid me still waited about 60-90 minutes before I finally got to the E.R. around 9:30a.m. which was minutes away. The time between arriving at the E.R. and being rushed to the Cath lab was mere minutes. From my understanding I had a 100% occlusion of the left ventricle ascending and descending. The “widow maker”. I had a major heart attack and am very lucky to be here. I had one stent put in and 10 days later I was allowed to play golf again. I feel blessed to be alive and not religiously, but I view this date, not even 3 weeks ago as being born again. I have not touched a cigarette since that morning and will NEVER be a smoker again. I almost feel like I was meant to have it and kick the pain off or I might of ignored what was going on and fell into a sleep to never awake from. Thank god for the staff at Huntington Hospital NY and Dr. Polena who saved my life with their fast actions. If anyone out there had this in their 30’s please contact me. Or anyone else who knows about this please do so at dak1974@gmail.com. My diet is almost to an extreme and somehow I have not lost any weight which I do not understand with how I have been eating since. I have been feeling very fragile almost like glass. My breathing is better now than it was, I remember saying how “old” I felt prior and I must say, I do feel better now than I did a month ago, by a lot. I’ve been having a lot of insomnia since the event and am almost “scared” to sleep it seems. If anyone thinks they can help please get in contact with me. It’s hard to fully wrap my head around everything that has happened. I do know how blessed and lucky I am to be here still and want to take full advantage of what truly is a 2nd chance at life. Thank you in advance. Again, my direct e-mail is dak1974@gmail.com.

By: Ron Johnson

Ron Johnson — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 00:01:39 +0000

To Dana:
On July 20, 2010, I too had a HA, mentioned was the “Widow maker”. I am 60 yo, eat very well and lean meals, get exercise, probably not enough rest though, do not smoke or drink, and am not usually lucky. I can be reached at johnsonrl5@yahoo.com. I will honestly answer any questions asked. I am NOT out of the woods yet on this, but do feel much much better. I look up as I say that. Take care. Ron J.

By: Patrick J. Fox

Patrick J. Fox — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 01:10:17 +0000

Sherryl:

All heart attacks are different. I have never known two heart attacks to be the same. Since my heart attack I have had several difficulties that I never had prior to my heart attack. I continue to battle each and every one of these difficulties one day at a time and beating the problems. I am not sure why these problems happen post heart attack, but trust me when I tell you that your difficulty is not horribly uncommon. Yes it is a pain in the arse… but not unheard of post heart attack.

I personally have found that not only are there physical problems, but also emotional or mental problems that can exist post heart attack. Don’t feel alone in your difficulties, but rather fight the feeling and find the answers that perhaps will minimize the feelings.

Patrick