Did I Have a Heart Attack?

I had just spent a fabulous mini-vacation with my family in Washington, D.C., visiting the Air and Space Museum, the National Zoo, and Georgetown. It was a hot, crowded weekend before the Fourth of July 2024, but that didn’t slow us down a bit.

A feeling of indigestion

Unsurprisingly, all the walking, standing in lines, and eating on the run resulted in a bout of indigestion one evening.

When we got back to the hotel, I casually treated it with the usual Alka-Seltzer. That did the trick, and I didn’t think a thing of it. After 4 days of tourist fun, we headed home.

A kneading, gurgling sensation

My Tuesday morning schedule included a Zoom meeting, grocery shopping, and lunch. Afterward, I went upstairs to rest, and the same indigestion feeling returned. It felt like a kneading, gurgling sensation in the upper right side of my stomach.

I sipped water and walked around the room for a good 20 minutes, but the kneading only got tighter. My esophagus felt strained, and I tried to clear my throat.

My symptoms suddenly worsened

Suddenly, the tightness worsened and I couldn’t breathe.

I ran into the hall and called out, “I need help!” Two family members were immediately at my side — I must have sounded panicky and loud. One got me an aspirin to chew, while the other called 911.

Getting emergency medical attention

The ambulance arrived quickly. The emergency medical technicians (EMTs) took my vital signs, monitored my heart, and gave me nitroglycerin and something for pain.

I was nauseous, but alert and talkative, and I wasn’t in much pain at all. One of them calmly said, “Something may be going on with your heart,” and asked what my pain level was.

“Four, maybe four-point-five,” I answered.

“We want it at zero,” he replied, giving me another nitroglycerin tablet.

Getting to the hospital during the busiest week of the year at the beach took 45 minutes. The ER team was waiting for me. It was hectic — a lot of questions, tests, IVs, oxygen, and drugs. I was awake and very aware. The strange thing is, it never dawned on me that I was having a heart attack.

My results from a previous wellness checkup

Six months earlier, I had been given a clean bill of health at my annual wellness checkup. Well, sort of. My Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD) Risk Calculator factors were mostly very good: normal weight, no diabetes, normal blood pressure, a balanced diet, moderate exercise, a non-smoker, no family heart history.

However, my lipid panel wasn’t normal. My triglycerides, LDL, and cholesterol were all very high. They had been tracked for 7 years, and the lipids graphs looked like giant zigzags climbing from high to higher.

When those numbers were plugged into the risk calculator, my 10-year cardiovascular risk was 13.5 percent. According to the American Heart Association, that actually put me at “intermediate risk,” but my primary care doctor wasn’t overly concerned.¹

My medical records simply noted “hyperlipidemia, unspecified,” and the only management plan recommended was diet and exercise.

I slipped through the cracks in the system

I was also told that statins aren’t necessarily advised for older women because of a higher incidence of side effects and lower potency. I was not prescribed a statin, and there was no discussion about seeing a cardiologist for further testing. I did not know enough to ask more questions.

Looking back, I believe I slipped through the wellness checkup system because, as a female in my late 60s, I was otherwise in pretty good shape. Unfortunately, that meant that my high lipids were not taken seriously.

A return to the ER

On July 2, 2024, I was a critical patient in the ER having a LAD STEMI, which stands for left anterior descending ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. A LAD STEMI is a serious heart attack ominously known as “the widowmaker.”²

I was immediately rushed to the catheterization lab for a primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) and 2 stents to open the 100 percent blocked artery.

I realized how close I had come to death

Later that evening, the interventional cardiologist stopped by the ICU and kindly said, “We are blessed to be having this conversation.” He briefly explained the procedure, said I would be in the hospital for 2 days, and assured me that I would be fine.

As he turned to leave, I asked, “So, did I have a heart attack?”

He looked over his shoulder at me. “Oh, yeah!”

That was the moment it hit me. I had come incredibly close to death.

What I know today

Nearly 2 years later, I know a lot more about heart attacks, heart health, symptoms, and prevention. I am still not sure I would have recognized that first indigestion episode as a sign from my heart.

That is how vague and atypical symptoms can be, especially in women. That’s why it is so critical to understand that having high lipids, even in the absence of symptoms, requires aggressive preventative treatment.

The more you know about safe lipid numbers, the better you can advocate for yourself and have meaningful conversations about treatment with your doctor.