The question I’m asked the most: What were your symptoms?
About a year before my heart attack, I noticed fatigue and a terrible lack of energy. I had an asthma attack for the first time in almost 50 years in March 2021, which remained an on-going problem. It didn’t feel like my childhood asthma, but every time the doctor listened to my lungs, I was wheezing in my lower left lung and I had significant pain behind my left shoulder blade.
Fast forward to spring of 2022. I was not tired all the time – I was exhausted! Turning 60 in May of that year made me think: this must be how it feels to be aging. The shortness of breath I experienced was one of the worst symptoms. Every few minutes I’d have to take a deep breath to catch up. When my chest felt tight, I’d use my rescue inhaler which provided very little help.
My long history of high blood pressure has been problematic to control, because my body releases too much potassium on most BP meds. It had been well controlled for at least 10 years but started being high again that spring.
For about 3 months before my heart attack, everything – and I mean everything felt like an effort. I could not look too far ahead on my calendar or I’d be overwhelmed, and kept telling myself to just focus on the next thing coming up. I’d tell myself, “just get through this next event.” It was almost like my mood and emotions were flatlined as nothing was exciting.
The last week of May, I started having chest pains. The pain was right in the middle of my chest. It was tight and felt like being squeezed inside. This would happen almost every day starting around 9:00 a.m. and last for 15-20 minutes, then ease off and not hurt the rest of the day. One morning, three weeks before the heart attack, the pain was terrible. I almost told Greg to take me to the hospital, but it stopped before I got to him. All the other times, it was uncomfortable, but tolerable. I do have a high threshold for pain.
Was I having heart attack symptoms? YES. Did I think I was having heart issues? NO WAY! Remember, a cardiologist released me on April 11th. Eleven weeks and a day before my massive heart attack!
June was a busy month, with big events every weekend. We were out of town two of those weekends. I had gotten very sick during this month and was so short of breath that having a conversation without losing my voice was almost impossible. I just kept pushing myself and never mentioned how bad I was feeling. All this time thinking, if this is what being 60 feels like, how will I feel at 80!
We attended a three day event in Asheville, NC where I was honored for my career and retirement, the weekend before my attack. Looking back at the pictures from that weekend it’s easy to see I was not well. On the way home from NC, two days before the heart attack, I looked at Greg and said, “I’m going to say something that I do not want to verbalize and you are not going to want to hear. There is something medically wrong with me and whatever it is, it’s really bad.”
The day of my heart attack, my chest was hurting like it had been for the past month. I thought it would ease off soon, just as I’d been experiencing. I was not five minutes into the walk with a friend when all of a sudden I broke out in a cold sweat, felt light headed, nauseous and both my arms felt heavy. The pain did not go away like normal. I literally do not have words to explain how painful the squeezing felt.
I want everyone reading this to know, WHEN YOUR BODY IS TELLING YOU SOMETHING IS WRONG – LISTEN! If your health is good, you should not be continually exhausted. These were my symptoms, but they may not be the same as someone else that is having a heart attack. If you experience anything like what I went through, or if you are having other symptoms that make you wonder if you are having a heart attack, seek immediate medical help!
DO NOT DRIVE YOURSELF. DO NOT HAVE SOMEONE ELSE DRIVE YOU.
CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY.
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”
Psalm 46:1
Something Sweet with Susan 
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