Lazy Monday

Hello blogsters!
In honor of the Presidency, I have declared today a Lazy Monday. I will not tell you to get up and exercise, I will not tell you to eat healthy (but you should be anyway!). I will tell you to relax, enjoy your day off, and take note of these heart healthy tips. I will be cleaning and enjoying a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

Since I (and the Grey's Anatomy cast) filled you in on the warning signs of stroke yesterday, today I'll keep you posted on the warning signs of the other big cardiovascular event- heart attack.

Not all heart attacks are the dramatic type, where the person grabs their chest and falls to the floor- unless you're my father, who kept it as dramatic as possible. Most heart attacks start slowly, and show themselves as just a mild pain or a "weird" feeling. Signs that you should call 911 are:

• Chest discomfort: This can feel like a squeezing, fullness, or all out pain in the center of the chest that ususally lasts for more than a few minutes. It can stay, or it can go away and come back.
• An uncomfortable feeling in other parts of your upper body: Ever seen a really dramatic heart attack on TV? The person usually says they have pain in one of their arms. You could have pain in one or both arms, your back, neck, jaw or stomach.
• Shortness of breath: This can occur with or without chest discomfort.
• Other: There had to be an other category, right? Other signs could be a cold sweat, nausea, lightheadedness.

Women are more likely to experience signs in the "other" category (we have to be difficult)- shortness of breath, vomiting, back or jaw pain.

So what are you going to do if you or someone you know is feeling like this? Okay, everyone repeat after me.

I will call 911 immediately.

We learned from Bobbi Jo Hackmann, our CPR teacher, that everyone always thinks everyone else will call 911, so that means that nobody calls 911. We learned from our second patient on Grey's Anatomy that even though you may think that your "weird" feeling or minor chest discomfort is nothing, it could be something serious. So let's do this again. Repeat:

I will call 911 if I am feeling weird.

Okay, now that we have that down, make sure that you get to a hospital at the first sign of a "weird" feeling. These episodes happen FAST, so get the help you need as soon as possible. Emergency medical staff are trained to deal with cardiac episodes and are often the ones who save the lives of cardiac patients in the field. Don't drive yourself to the hospital. Buck up, call yourself an ambulance. Nobody will judge you- we'd rather see you alive.

In any case, practice saying that key statement over and over- this WILL help save your life. I promise.

That's all for now, bloggers.
From my heart to your,
Red.

P.S. Don't forget to e-mail your heart healthy committment to slachapelle@richland.org for a chance to win one of several pieces of Micah Marie Jewelry!