If you know me, I'm all about the heart. I've been caring for people's hearts for 13 years now as a cardiac nurse and now a cardiac critical care nurse practitioner. I'm always posting and advocating for knowing the signs/symptoms of heart attacks, learning CPR, and teaching others how serious heart disease is! After all these years, I (thought) I knew it could affect anyone.
But on May 4th, I wasn't prepared to get a call from my sister that my dad was having a heart attack. My dad is the vision of a healthy 66 year old; he literally just ran in the delaware running festival 2 weeks before, isn't overweight, sees is primary care doctor every year, doesn't smoke and barely drinks, no family history...all the things we talk about! There he was just cutting the grass and BANG severe crushing chest pain, sweating, SOB and there I was in Florida on vacation
I immediately knew it was real before I even knew it was "real." Thankfully (and also sadly), we see so many STEMI at Christiana, I know it's a well-oiled machine. From the paramedics to Twiage to the ED to the cath team, before I knew it he was already in the cath lab with an amazing team and they were opening his left anterior descending artery (LAD) and then he was in the CICU with the BEST nurses, cardiology fellows, and APC team (I might be biased cause I work with them everyday). 2 days later, he was discharged, and 2 weeks later, he was back at work!
This is the best case scenario in these situations; trust me, I know because I see it every day. DON'T ignore the signs or your family members' symptoms because you think they are "healthy." There is still so much to research and learning about heart disease and this is why the American Heart Association Heart Walk this year means a little extra than it usually does. If you are free come join our Heart walk team or donate to support the AHA!
Shout out to all those who helped make this the best case scenario for my dad! Thanks for reading this ridiculously long story and thank you for your support!
