Thursday, July 24, 2008
Bummer!
I just got back from the cardiologist. He says I probably had a heart attack last week. And so it begins...
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About Me
- Galen
- I worked as a pediatric occupational therapist for 30 years, in both the public schools and in the home health setting. I was on long-term disability for 2 years, but it ran out. I'm hoping to open a new type of practice within the year. I'm a single adoptive mom of 10 children (all now adults) with special needs, including cerebral palsy, spina bifida, dwarfism, developmental delay, traumatic brain injury, and schizophrenia. I am also a dog lover, heart attack survivor, proud Boomer, occasional poet, progressive Democrat, and a pretty nice person.
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4 comments:
Good news, bad news... Genetics suck; as you know, I have the same "gift" from my relatives. But - you weren't knocked on your ass and stuck in a hospital. The amount of medication I take is not something I am not happy about, but unlike my parents, the advances in medication have kept me out of the hospital and from having a reoccurrence for over two years.
I am not trivializing your condition or how you must feel. But if there is any way to see the upside of this, at some point, hold on to that.
From what I read, women often aren't knocked on their ass. The cardiologist threatened to pull out a ruler and rap my knuckles for not going to the ER. Looking back, I realize I should have gone. While I do appreciate the advances in medication, I seem to be a person who is extremely sensitive to all the side effects, and I have been so discouraged over the last 5 years as I have been caught in a vicious cycle of side effects causing new problems.
Well, I guess the upside is that I'm still here and I feel confident in the new cardiologist.
Heart disease is the #1 killer of women in the US not because women get it at a higher rate than men, but because doctors don't take their symptoms seriously.
I'm sorry that this has happened to you. The silver lining may be that it was, I assume, a fairly mild heart attack. Now the red flag has been raised your doctors can more aggressively treat you and there won't be a second act.
Good luck, and best wishes.
Thanks, Pirate.
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