This claustrophobic-like feeling lasted for two weeks. It was so foreign, but I was a busy mom with two young boys at the time, and a very demanding job, so I just shrugged it off as normal holiday stress.
“Thoughtful,Relevant and Real-Life!”
After our family returned from a trip to Florida a few weeks later, I started experiencing heavy heart-racing episodes three to four times a week. They would start and stop suddenly for no apparent reason—and it felt like I was running a marathon even at rest. I was also having more headaches than usual, aches and pains in my upper body, shortness of breath going up and down the stairs, and was tired all the time. This was not like me. One morning at work, I had a panic attack standing in line at the cafeteria. The next night, as I was putting the kids to bed, I had the most excruciating pain in my right shoulder that shot all the way down my arm. It felt as though someone had hit me really hard with a baseball bat. It stopped me in my tracks. The pain then migrated around my back. My arm started to go limp. I’ve since learned that women can experience different heart attack symptoms than men; such as pain in their right arm or shoulder, a feeling of indigestion, lower back aches, jaw pain, exhaustion etc. This is what was happening to me. I couldn’t believe it. I had no control over my body. Turns out, the problem was that I didn’t listen to my body a month earlier. I should have known that the tightness in my chest was not normal. I should have gone to my doctor then, but instead, I thought (like so many others) that I was a healthy person and there’s absolutely no way I could have a heart attack at such a young age. My second mistake was not going to the hospital that dreadful night. I was in denial and am sincerely lucky that I was able to make it through on my own and get to my doctor and then cardiologist the next week.
MY HEART, MY SELF KNOWING WHEN TO SLOW DOWN IS HALF THE BATTLE A Heartfelt Guide For Women Who Do Too Much – From A Woman Whose Wake-Up Call Changed It All
Kerrie Lee Brown
My kids had to go to bed, right?! And who wants to go to the hospital on Christmas? Note sarcastic tone.
This is why I share my heart health story today. To warn others that if it can happen to me, it can happen to you at The way I haphazardly reacted to my body literally any age. I sincerely hope my message resonates with you “showing me the signs” is quite typical of busy moms, and in some way or perhaps you can pass it along to someone in fact, women in general. We seldom put ourselves first or you know who is overdoing it and not stopping to evaluate make our health a priority. their daily stressors. I encourage you to always listen to your body and seek medical help if necessary. While I am certainly no doctor, I know now that listening to my body when I first experienced the signs and symptoms could have saved me from heart surgery. I look forward to sharing more of my journey and what happened next in upcoming issues. *Contact me if you’d like to learn more about my book “My Heart, My Self” which is available on Amazon. To buy Kerrie’s book visit: Follow on social media
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www.KerrieLeeBrown.com 51
