As anyone who has ever had heart problems can probably attest...there is nothing more inconvenient than having an angina attack.
First and foremost...what IS angina...well there's the rub...you probably right away thought "chest pain"...well you might be surprised that the pinching in your shoulder; jaw; throat; could be angina too..or... it could be just a "pinching" in your shoulder; jaw; and throat!
The first time I had severe angina (after suffering with the pinching, shortness of breath; extreme lethargy...figuring it was all due to inactivity) I lay in bed and had a discussion with myself, and with God. I asked myself whether or not I was REALLY in pain! I'm in pain all the time, and when you deal with chronic pain, it changes all the definitions! The pain then increased and moved to my left arm...but...I asked myself...is my left arm REALLY hurting more than my right? Yes...yes it is. Am I having a panic attack? Been there...done that...no this is different...Hmmmmm.
What to do! It's 11:30 p.m. and my son is sleeping soundly. I don't really want to disturb anyone...so I tell God that if He wants me, I'm ready to go...but 9:00 a.m - 3:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday would really be much better...and after all He's God! I didn't call anyone...didn't mention it to my doctor for about a month, and finally discovered that yes I did have blocked arteries...and got stents and nitroglycerin.
That was 2 years ago, and I'm back at the angina thing again, and have found via angiogram, that I have several at least 50% blocked arteries...but not blocked enough to fix...yet! Lovely!!!! So the whole angina thing has changed now...because I know now....whereas before I was blissful in my ignorance! Now when it starts, I know that I have 15 minutes and 3 nitro puffs before I'm in real trouble, and because I live alone, as a single Mom, there are things to do!!!
Whatever needs to happen...I'm the only one that can make it happen...I can't just lay still and have someone else do all the calling of ambulances...getting Matt woken up and looked after....someone will have to open the door and hold the dogs when the paramedics get here...all the stuff that has to be done is too much...particularly if it turns out that you don't have a massive coronary after all!!!!!
Seriously...once you make that call for help you are pretty much obliged to to have a fatal. or near fatal, heart attack!!!!! Ask any heart patient!.....thats why we die!
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