Most of us are probably familiar with the Hollywood Heart
Attack. The individual having an attack puts their hands over the middle of
their chest and falls to the ground in dramatic fashion.
But in reality, a heart attack can be a lot more subtle, especially
in women. 435,000 women have heart attacks every year. Heart disease is the
number one cause of death for women in America, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
Chest tightness and discomfort. It may not be extreme. The
discomfort may not even be in the chest, but in the back or shoulders.
You might have pain or discomfort radiating down one or both arms.
You may feel an ache in your jaw.
You might feel lightheaded or breaking out in a cold sweat.
Nausea or vomiting may be present.
Actually, these symptoms can be present and lingering for a
couple of weeks. Frequently women say they thought they had the flu or just a
bad case of heartburn and certainly never thought about a heart attack. Chest
pain, tightness, or discomfort is still the most common and dominant symptom of
a heart attack for men or women. But, women are more likely to experience
extreme fatigue, nausea, and fainting. These are all symptoms that look like a
lot of other things.
Minutes matter in situations like these. GRMC is the closest
Level III trauma center in our area. GRMC’s emergency healthcare professionals
are here 24 hours a day, ready to respond at a moment’s notice.
In April 2014, Shirley Parrott, had not been feeling well
for several weeks. Her symptoms, as it turned out, were that of a pending heart
attack.
When the heart attack happened on April 12, she was brought
to GRMC by ambulance. Her heart stopped beating—twice. The emergency team at
GRMC kept Parrott alive and prepped her to fly by air ambulance to Mercy Des
Moines. On the way to the helicopter, Parrott’s heart stopped again. Within
minutes, she was at Mercy in their operating room receiving surgery to correct
the blockage. The specific blockage Parrott had caused a massive heart attack
that typically has a 5 to 10 percent survival rate and is often referred to as
a widow maker.
“The doctors at Mercy said that they saved her life in Grinnell,”
Shirley’s mother-in-law Verleen Eggman says. “She would not be here today
without GRMC.”
“Honestly, I had not been to GRMC in a long time. I wasn’t
happy with them,” Shirley Parrott says. “But I am astounded at what they did to
save my life and, obviously, very happy that things worked out the way they
did.”
Know the signs of heart attack. For more information go to:
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