One stent was placed in my RCA. The surgeon may then insert a mesh tube called a stent into the artery to keep it open. She used LAD so I was researching it for accuracy of my transcript. RUSHED TO HOSPITAL, CATHETER, STENT. Educational text answers on HealthTap are not intended for individual diagnosis, treatment or prescription. Cheers. They gave me more meds, but no emergency surgery like I am seeing in these postings. How long do a stent surgery take to recover? They are made to be permanent once a stent is placed, it's there to stay. I lay there until the big one hit me about 1:30 AM. Again, I do have life insurance, but Im not going to be shy about asking all my friends to (a) drop the stupid weight they may have exercise, (b), eat better cut out the processed foods if possible, no breads, not heavy fried foods, low starch, high fruit and vegetable, minimal red meat, more fish, nuts, coconut oil, no desserts, no sugary drinks, etc.. you all know the drill and (c) get some life insurance just in case and (d) get an annual physical. I had a 100% blockage of the LAD and went into Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Our Cardiologist and Pulmonologistare the best in this area, but it was in Gods hands, lots of prayer warriors! The airbag revived me. My husband had a widow maker attack Christmas eve, 2013. I keep reading here about it happening to those in their 30s and 40. If you are uncomfortable with the advice i dont think anyone would begrudge you getting a second opinion to seek reassurance regarding the chest pain. Women report this more often than men do. The total blockage of the LAD artery is a serious problem that requires immediate treatment. This can be done during your angioplasty. It would be just too difficult for him to go on a holiday. It was a total nightmare..but today I feel terrific. I WAS GIVEN NITRO DRIP FOR 8 HOURS BECAUSE THE HOSPITAL HAD 5 MAJOR CASES BEFORE ME. Call 911. I am sorry about your dad. I had a stent put in December 16th for a widowmaker. Why Your Surgeon Should Use Arteries (Not Veins) In Your Heart Bypass. In June of 2006, at the age of 37, I experienced a heart attack due to a blockage in the LAD artery in my heart. I have a history of heart disease in my family. I had a heart attack June 21, (didnt know it at the time though) thought it was indigestion/ something stuck in my gullet. Im having a really hard time with this, but I just keep thinking, My God is in control. - WebMD, Upper body pain or discomfort. Suzanne R. Steinbaum, DO. It would lead to loss of blood supply to the entire left side (the main side), the front wall, and the side wall. I lost 35 pounds, and increased my exercise regimen. Like other types of heart attack, this one is largely preventable. If we would have waited for the ambulance he would have died. They hooked me up to the monitor and things were looking good there but I went to the hospital as a precaution. Shortness of breath. under control. Shortness of breath. I had been showing stellar stats for several months. I was nauseated and trying to throw up and felt like I was going to lose control of my bowels with the worst chest and arm pain I could ever imagine!!! I argued with the health professionals as I felt I had no anxious thoughts. Off pump surgery is much easier on the body than On pump surgery. HE SAID A ELEPHANT SHOULD HAVE BEEN PUT DOWN GOD PURPOSE WAS FOR ME TO TELL MY STORY LIFE IS GOOD. I made a plate and was almost done when it felt like I had bad heartburn. They say he has no right artery. I just had the widow maker this thanksgiving. Can you stent a 100% blocked artery? I did pray that he would live. Now imagine if that artery went down. Now Im just scared to eat anything. If youve had a heart attack, you may need to make some changes in your life to prevent another one. I was able to call my husband at work just before they rushed me out the door to another Hospital that had a Cath lab! What you should always do when you see someone having a heart attack or if you think you might be having one yourself is to get help immediately. You are all lucky to survive the heart attack, he did 4 years earlier. Sat in a chair and major chest pain, left arm went numb, then lips, then right arm and fingers. This was not going away even with the regular meds I took. Now 12/26/15 I had my 3rd heart attack. 877-697-9355. The low blood pressure created problems in itself especially with regard to positional changes. My story is on Sept 30 2015 I was walking from a grocery store to a bus stop with about 20 to 25 lbs of groceries. It is now April 4th 2016last month I took a 2 1/2 mile walk with a neighbor who does this a few times a weekhe kept giving me a chance to turn around and go back before the 1/2 way point. Invisible illness is the toughest to deal with and heart disease is on the top of that spectrum. It took another 9 hours to get me to the cath lab. It can happen suddenly when a key artery that moves blood to the heart gets almost or completely blocked. The new baby is now 6 months old and my other children are 8, 6 and 4. We went to bed. He will be 60 in July and while life has been challenging, your life and your experience counts. I too had a massive heart attack in 2007. Theres a good reason why you are still here. I would highly recommend a stress echo because they are far more conclusive of blocked arteries. The symptoms of a widowmaker are essentially the same as those of any type of heart attack. On the left side, which is the main side, we have the left anterior descending (LAD) that runs down the front of the heart and supplies the front and main wall, and then the left circumflex that supplies the side wall. 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Open heart procedures, which represent a major portion of our volume, require cardiopulmonary bypass (heart-lung bypass machine) and are usually the most complicated and complex procedures. I later spoke to the ambulance crew who told me my heart stopped and they aspirated me for nearly 15 minutes and shocked my chest about 15 times. As in other cases, challenges can also present opportunities. Email the AMerican Heart Association they will provide great feedback. I am 30 years old. In this article, learn about the signs and symptoms of each type. I know that I am. I am curious. I wish there was more to do to see how someone is heart health wise before they have a heart attack. However, the likelihood that someone will survive a widowmaker heart attack depends on numerous factors, such as: The following risk factors can lower a persons chances of surviving a heart attack: Medical advances have significantly increased heart attack survival rates. If heart attacks run in your family, youre more likely to have one. I also started to get small chest pains, was told it was anxiety. I am glad to see you were so lucky, god bless. As a mom with three young kids and a husband coming up on 40 it is a huge concern. Good advice bob, I was thinking the exact same thing. Get a copy of your records. This is true & what you can be in for when you dont get the surgery. DOI: What are the risk factors for heart disease? I went back to sleep. Feel lucky to still be here. You may also need heart surgery if your doctor finds blockages in multiple arteries around your heart. What are the symptoms of a blocked to the circumflex artery? I had the LAD by-passed last Monday. This is the most common symptom for women and men. I am now 66 yrs oldWhen I read the comments on this page I am amazed I survived and the stint made it possible. I think you know what I meant! That all happened in 2003, Ellis S, et al. Heart attacks can be deadly, and the widow maker is one of the deadliest kind. He then laid down and vomited. Theappellationwidow maker,whichhas been applied to thislesion(in part because of thelargeamountofmyocardiumthat the left anteriordescending artery supplies and its proximity to the distal left maincoronary artery), has done nothing to allay this anxiety.In the earliest days ofinterventional cardiology, theproximal leftanteriordescendingartery was Lets make ours lives worth saving. A long-term Korean study found stents as safe as open heart surgery in treating blockages of a coronary artery known as the widowmaker, showing that stented patients did not run a. Hugs to you all. It seems that your risk factors were controlled? Thank you for your video, it helped me understand more and I hope that My heart is able to stay strong. How would you describe a positive personality? They got me to the E.R. If your hospital has group cardio counseling, godemented humormisery loves company! Again, thanks to all of the stories. According to Menees, a blockage of 70% or . Its possible that ultimately if the lesion had become a problem he would have developed more symptoms and had the appropriate work up done. What happens during a heart attack? The cardiologist was quite adamant about looking instead of just putting me on a treadmill. Also working on stress management and looking forward to exercise again now that I can walk without chest pain. They said he had a 10% chance of surviving and he didnt make it. So I was really really lucky. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I praise and thank God for living in a time of modern medicine and the gifted medical staff at Providence Hospital in Everett, WA. If it decreases, things will be ok. May 26 in the early morning I was transferred to get an angiogram. By the time the ambulance crew arrived, The pain was subsiding and I was feeling alot better. No, Ive read all these articles and people under 40 have been 100% healthy and then get hit with the widowmaker,,!! 70% blocked. I just found out yesterday it was a widow maker. I went to bed later that night and severe pain in my chestarms shoulders-neck and my ears! I would advise being as aggressive as possible with risk factor modification. Im sorry to hear about your husband. There is one artery on the right side and two arteries on the left side of the heart. However, people who survive their first heart attack have a higher risk of having a second heart attack or a stroke compared with people who have never had a heart attack. Was fitted with a bare metal stent. I walked up to the counter, said I think I am having a bad case of heart burn or a heart Then collapsed on the floor, pulseless and breathless. No signs it was coming on. Also, check out our article on the new disappearing stent. Ive been dieting and lost 40 pounds 7 years ago and was at a good weight for body and age. Never give up hope! This condition is known as atherosclerosis, often called the hardening of the arteries.. Knew I was in trouble. Took till the next day for the surgery. When done with a coronary angioplasty, a stent placement opens your arteries and increases blood flow to the heart muscle. He has the death rattle, and foam. As an interventional cardiologist, a large part of my job is dealing with heart attacks and fixing the blocked arteries that cause them. His heart attack happened on the squash court, doing an easy drill. A widowmaker heart attack is a type of heart attack in which you have a full blockage in your hearts biggest artery. Seek emergency medical attention immediately if you have any heart attack symptoms. Patel N, et al. However, you may want to quit smoking, eat better, and exercise more. They say that months prior he had widow maker heart attacks and didn't . Im 36 yrs old. Maybe he was having symptoms and we just didnt recognize it. Cardiac Arrest vs. Heart Attack: Whats the Difference? The time to effect change in your heart arteries is usually going to be decades before the heart artery disease manifests. This lower chamber pumps oxygen-rich blood to your aorta, which sends it to your body. Would this make my bp low? Outside temperature was near 100 and no breeze. Little did I know then, my LAD was completely blocked. I am 42 years old. Mild COPD. Five days later I was back in the ER diagnosed with TIA (mini strokes). Are you sure it was the Widow Maker though? Your risk of a heart attack is very low. We lost my dad actually 20 days before this article was written to a widow maker. This is the only thing that helped and I feel it saved my life! We have been saying that for generations. Those tests mainly check the circulation of the blood to the heart. pain that radiates into the legs, back, neck, or jaw, thrombolytic medicines to dissolve blood clots in the coronary arteries. It I have many health probs very similar to your husbands. Im a court stenographer and so I was editing a transcript of a cardiologist I had on the stand. Great article! all clear we were told. I felt sick, out of breath and jaw pain. I exercised 2-3 times a week cardio and weights. While I was in the ER I did experience some slight discomfort from my ear, down my throat. After reading the information on this site I am very thankful to be alive. It explains it the most Ive ever seen. Since having the procedure I still have some chest pain. When its blocked at the beginning or very top of the artery, your heart muscle doesnt get any oxygen. You are getting another chance in life. In other cases, we might suggest coronary artery bypass surgery or taking a more aggressive treatment with medication alone. I dont know. If you order something through one of those links, you won't pay a penny more, but we'll get a small commission, which helps keep the lights on. You thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. Wish you all the best. These things can come out of no where with out warning. Please dont judge me for past problems they were symptomatic of alot of things and I cant turn the clock back but I feel like any time is my time and its terrifying me.thank you, Please please reply i dont have a cardiologist no one will help me understand. I had taken an MRI a couple weeks earlier, and he said I had a couple of mini-strokes. Im 55 and after losing my excess weight, many people would look at me and think Im an athlete of some kind. Are older than age 50 for women and people AFAB. I cannot stress to you just how close I came to ignoring their counsel and just chalking it up to being a little out of shape or stress from my work and just going on my merry way -which almost certainly would have killed me in just a few weeks. I learned the hard way.you are what you eat! A large amount of plaque is present. So for about 6 months I had no sign of any trouble good cholesterol and blood sugar. My choices, stay with what I have and use drugs to limit my heart rate or have the bypass with its inherent risks. He mentioned it bothering him again the next week or so later. Blocked arteries are usually diagnosed with a nuclear stress test, cardiac pet scan, coronary CT angiogram or traditional coronary angiogram. He just dropped unconscious. Surprisingly, there was a match. It is only today, Tuesday, that I am finding out just what kind of heart attack I had and how close I came to death. Fortunately Im exercising regularly, keeping my weight under control and am lucky enough to now realize this condition and what it can do. I had a nuclear stress test. Terms of Use. It. I had a doctor who took something I reported in almost an offhand way, and got me to that cardiologist, who though looking at a strong athletic looking guy, and despite not having the typical symptoms (diabetes etc..) decided to forgo the stress test, and just look. I had just come home from visiting my daughter in Charleston (4 hours away) the day before and we had just gotten 7 inches of snow on the ground that day. Was this a widow maker? I started cardiac rehab and lost 16 pounds in 3 weeks. Sure enough, they took an ECG, found high BP, high cholesterol, and high triponin levels. Shortly before bedtime I experienced mild discomfort in my chest, nothing else. Good luck to you, hope it continues! Turns out that I had 3 blockages In my LAD ranging from 70 to 99 percent. The LAD artery carries fresh blood into the heart so that the heart gets the oxygen it needs to pump properly. Can diet help improve depression symptoms? Some heart attacks come on slowly, causing only mild discomfort or no symptoms of chest discomfort at all. How rude! No surgery. A heart attack is a medical emergency. So within 3-4 minutes of onset of heart attack we was at the ER. Anatomy, Thorax, Heart Left Anterior Descending (LAD) Artery. Our doctors define difficult medical language in easy-to-understand explanations of over 19,000 medical terms. After A much needed two week vacation, my Doctor told me he thinks that the only thing that stopped the disection from continuing was it ran out of artery ! In women, the symptoms can be more subtle, like neck or jaw pain, nausea and lightheadedness. How dangerous is an angioplasty with stent? Your advice would be appreciated. To help further explain the widowmaker, I created this video. Know If you cant be nice, then please be gone. They said I was lucky to be alive. The arteries may not have been blocked. But one particular kind has Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on 12/06/2022. An abnormal stress test came to be and thats when combined with being symtomatic a radial cath was done. I dont know how true it is but that is what I was told. Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Check out our latest newsletter. My husband drives a semi to Atlanta, GA every night but this happened to be on a Saturday night/Sunday morning so he was home. Wifemaker is an informal phrase for the kind of heart attack when the left anterior descending (LAD) is blocked to 100 percent, an interventional cardiologist at the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center tells CNN. Our world is still spinning & trying to adjust to do many things. I had him get an HBA1C do to family history. Can an electrocardiogram detect blocked arteries? I have had 9 stents to date. . . Are there any specific topics youd like to see us cover? He is managed on a lot of prescription meds including the water pill (furosemide). I rode the bus home and had to stop half way on the way to my home and restnever before has this happened. It made me feel queasy. Guess God has plans for me yet. There is a narrow gap, big enough to drive through. Can I cheat once a month and have a hamburger and fries? Can the widow maker artery be stented? Your article and video really helped me to understand what had happened. A heart attack generally occurs when there is a critical blockage in one or more of the arteries that supply the heart muscle with blood. The term widowmaker historically comes from the greater risk of a 100% blockage in the left anterior descending (LAD) artery, which carries almost 50% of the blood to your heart muscle, says Dr. Ajay J. Kirtane, interventional cardiologist and director of cardiac catheterization laboratories at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. The more quickly a widowmaker is addressed and treated, the higher your chance of recovery. This is the perfect website for anyone who wishes to find A terrifying choice to make but I choose the later, hopefully it was the right decision. Just doesnt make sense. Want to discover opportunities? A doctor explains what makes a heart attack a widowmaker.. Im back to running and feel 100%. Also what are the recommendations for people who live where the nearest cardiology interventionalist MD is an hour or more away, other than not to hesitate to call 911 and not attempt to self-diagnose? Our dear friends from out of townhad arrived for the weekend. Its completely devastating and its hard to believe that this could happen to a seemingly healthy 38 year old and my kids have to grow up without their dad. See additional information. You may have heard of the so-called widowmaker heart attack in the news or on a TV show.
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