A Change of Heart: Two Years Ago

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Two Years Ago

This time two years ago, my husband and I were sitting in the ER at UNC Hospitals. It would be another 8 hours or so before a doctor would say the words "You've had a heart attack" to me. Two years ago tomorrow would be the first time we'd ever heard of a spontaneous coronary artery dissection.

Today I'm grateful for so many things--my wonderful husband Paul, awesome family and friends who stood by us during that scary time.

No longer do I take for granted simple pleasures like sleeping in my own bed at night, curled up with Paul at my side. Sleeping through the night, uninterrupted every hour by the blood pressure cuff going off, or staff coming in every three hours to draw blood and take vital signs. The ability to walk from the bed to the bathroom, unconstrained by a metal tower of IVs and beeping, blinking monitors.

Blessed to be celebrating tonight with good friends.

Happy to be alive!

Hug your loved ones, and get out there and do something fun.

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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).