Too young for a heart attack?
Waking up at 6.30am, I felt a bit sick. I tried to get comfy in bed – but, if I laid on my back, my chest felt as if I was suffocating.
I turned on my side and must have drifted off...
Next thing, I woke up two hours on, and the crushing sensation felt worse.
I couldn’t stop sweating, yet I felt freezing cold. My left arm also felt strange and numb.
My husband Liam, 39, was at work, so I called my sister Gina, 51. But as I spoke, I struggled to get the words out.
Something was badly wrong.
My sister was out so she phoned her husband Simon, who came straight round. Somehow, I let him in.
‘I’m calling an ambulance,’ he said, taking one look at me.
A paramedic arrived swiftly and checked me over. ‘Is it my heart?’ I asked. For some reason, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was. But I was only 34, fit, healthy, didn’t smoke… Surely too young for a heart attack?
I was taken to Grantham and District Hospital for tests. By now, Liam had arrived. ‘Everything will be OK,’ he said, but I was terrified.
An ECG showed a problem with my heart but no-one knew exactly what it was.
Later that day in March 2012, I was transferred to Glenfield Hospital for more tests.
Doctors could see I hadn’t had a classic heart attack. Instead, they found a tear, or a dissection, in the artery. After a week in hospital… ‘It’s spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD),’ specialist Dr Adlam said.
If one or more of the inner layers of a coronary artery tears away from the outer layer, blood flow is slowed or blocked, causing a heart attack.
Luckily, my condition was treatable. But I was told it can be fatal. Dr Adlam explained the cause of the condition’s unknown and there are no warning signs.
I was kept in hospital for the next three weeks, treated with blood-pressure medication and meds to lower my heart rate.
Gradually, I began to feel better. Eventually, I was discharged – and, a few months on, I was told my heart was OK.
To come to terms with what’d happened, I joined a few support groups online. Speaking to other SCAD survivors really helped – and got me thinking...
‘SCAD’S supposed to be rare,’ I told Liam. ‘But I’ve found 33 survivors in the UK alone.’
I wanted more research to be done into the condition, so in March 2013 I contacted Dr Adlam. He was stunned when I told him how many survivors I’d spoken to.
He was keen to do a clinical trial. Amazingly, the British Heart Foundation even funded an online portal so patients could sign up to take part.
Now, four years on, 500 have taken part in the trial – I’m on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what the results are.
I’ve also helped to set up a charity called Beat SCAD.
I’m determined to spread awareness. What I went through was terrifying. But I hope by sharing my story people will be more aware of the symptoms.
If I can help just one person, it’ll be worth it.
I wanted more research into the condition