A Change of Heart: My guest post on Medical IDs

Sunday, February 27, 2011

My guest post on Medical IDs

My guest post is now up on the blog for Lauren's Hope medical IDs:

http://blog.laurenshope.com/medical-id-jewelry-blog/bid/50610/Can-a-Woman-In-Her-40-s-Have-a-Heart-Attack

If you have a medical condition and don't already have an ID, I recommend one. If not from them, from somewhere -- the Internet will toss out a million options if you type the phrase "stylish medical IDs" in your search engine of choice.

Thanks again to my cousin, a retired EMT, who first convinced me that I needed one. He said that because of my gender and relatively young age, a first responder who found me unconscious wouldn't think "heart disease" first.

(For those of you playing along at home, I've posted the link above to my FB page and to the WomenHeart and heart disease communities on Inspire, as well.)

(Photo (c) Paul Cory, my husband.)

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Why am I doing this?

In March of 2009 I had a heart attack. It was as much a surprise to me as it was to the doctors; I don't have any risk factors--no high blood pressure, no diabetes, no clogged arteries, no family history; plus I'm a young (in cardiac terms) female who exercises. Definitely NOT the usual suspect for a heart attack.

But tell that to my body--I had one anyway. Turns out that I experienced a rare thing called a Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection. Don't google the term unless you're prepared to be depressed by mortality rates and statistics, and the fact that doctors really have no clue about what causes some people to have them.

The bright side is that my toast landed butter side up, and I'm still here. In 2009 I put together a one-shot fanzine called A Change of Heart; you can get a PDF copy of it from efanzines.com here. This blog is an extension of that fanzine and an effort to reach more people, both in and out of of the fannish science fiction community.

If you want to read my story from the beginning, I suggest starting with this link to my wonderful husband Paul's journal:

Laura Had A Heart Attack Monday Morning.

He kept up a pretty good running commentary of what was happening while I was still in the hospital, and it starts there. The "Next" and "Previous" links move to later and earlier entries, detailing our experiences.

In October, 2010, I competed in and finished the Chapel Hill Ramblin' Rose Triathlon. These are pictures Paul took of me riding my bike and running (he couldn't get into the pool).