I just had a heart attack, ladies look out.

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Tuesday December 16, 2008 · 5:57 PM PST

2008/12/16 · 17:57

Yes, quite true, I just had a myocardial infarction. Thursday evening was great with the return of eldest son from a year of teaching math at a school in Papua New Guinea. Friday evening when returning from having a couple of glasses of wine with friends, I didn't feel so great. One too many glasses of wine I thought, or perhaps the hors d'oeuvre didn't agree with me, although I'd only had 2.5 glasses of wine. And after all, it had been a very busy week between work and volunteering to decorate the lobbies of two apartment buildings ............the usual stuff, I am sure we are all familiar with how busy we can all get!!

I have had a few bouts of acid reflex recently - something I had a problem with a few years ago. Lord knows, I'm always tired - I work a full time job as a project administrator and also spend 30 hours a week or more a week on my passion - gardening and garden design for a community garden where I work with a great bunch of retired people. I'm also a type 2 diabetic.

I was not just lucky, I was lucky beyond anything I would believe possible. My husband and son made the decision that we should head to emergency, just to get checked out and I really thought we were wasting everyone's time. But they thought it significant enough to keep me there. Something to do with an elevated enzyme that indicates a heart attack.

By Saturday morning I was fed up, ready to pack it in and go home. The emergency nurse was alarmed and I called a friend who is a cardiac nurse and she told me flatly that with those enzyme levels there was no way I should go home. When I finally saw the doctor I really felt ok, but he persuaded me to stay and go in for an angioplasty on Monday morning.

So yesterday morning I heard 100% blockage and a 90% blockage. It seems that 1 artery to my heart had a 100% blockage that has completely calcified and another artery which had been doing double duty for a number of years was now 90% blocked - my heart was only getting 10% of the oxygen it needed.

Miracles of modern medicine, I now have a stent and am told that I will feel like a new woman - in fact I already feel like a new woman. There is no damage to the heart muscle itself.

But I wanted to let everyone know, even if it seems like nothing, it can be something. It really is worth getting checked, you may save your life. So do it for those you love, you might be amazed. I certainly was, and I have to say, economic times not withstanding, this will be the best Christmas ever.

Finally, a heart felt thank you to Canada for our socalised medicine. I am doubly blessed and I wish our lovely neighbours to the south the same.

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