Alice’s Story – “Had I not called “911” I would most probably not be here”

“My name is Alice and I am a 64yr old female who is employed at Mohegan Sun

Casino. I am a shift manager at the Bus Lobby and I would consider my position to be overall moderately stressful. I mention this to alert you to the fact that not everyone displays the same symptoms and I hope by sharing my story, I can heighten your awareness.

For approximately a year prior, I had experienced heartburn on more than one occasion. Therefore I was not overly concerned. Usually I was relieved by an antacid. On that particular day, I had forgotten to take my high blood pressure medication. When I realized this, I took both and began to feel back to normal. Luckily I had the next couple of days off as part of my regular schedule. I let my husband know what happen and he said, you should have called “911”. Arriving back at work, I explained to my operational manager, Gail my recent episode.

The very next day when returning from lunch, I began to experience the same symptoms. I then relayed this to Gail and she suggested to call “911” and tell them my symptoms. When I did, they arrived and transported me to L&M in New London. Gail called my husband to meet at L&M.

The report from the EMT’s showed I needed a stent placed upon my arrival at the ER, However, they attempted the stent placement then realized I had a tear in my artery and promptly stopped the procedure. Dr. Cambi my cardiologist said if he proceeded with the procedure I would have bled to death.

Hospitalization and medication became the answer to my prayers. The doctors made it clear that had I not called “911” I would most probably not be here to tell you my story. Please be aware 80% of the people do not survive this attack and that heart attacks take many different forms and you should not ignore your body when you know something is very out of your ordinary routine.”

Alice is a volunteer for the American Heart Association and shares her story whenever possible.  If you want to know more about the signs and symptoms of a heart attack or cardiac arrest, find out more:

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HeartAttack/WarningSignsofaHeartAttack/Warning-Signs-of-a-Heart-Attack_UCM_002039_Article.jsp#.WiG7pa2ovIU