My sister Pam who is about 1 ½ years younger than me got to the hospital last Wednesday as she was undergoing the early stage of having a heart attack. She was in the ER when the nurse told her she was having it. They did two procedures and after the 2nd one she said that she felt much better. Pam is OK and was released from the hospital Sunday with orders to take a couple weeks off work.
Pam said that she had just seen on Oprah the day before that the most common sign of a heart attack for a woman is pain in the jaw. That is how she knew something wasn’t right. She said she had a little tingling in her left arm but didn’t think anything about it since she is left handed.
So remember this if you think that the only warning is the left arm pain or tingling. Watching Oprah may have just made a big difference in my sister’s life.
From an email from a friend who is a nurse:
“That is correct…but, I thought it was more commonly known than it is. They even taught us that when I was a student back in the 70’s. But, it just goes to show you it is still in many ways a “Man’s” world. They still talk more about chest pain, nausea and sweating (all more common in men).
No offense intended to any men reading this post by repeating what my GF said. It is just sad that this still is a real fact of life even in 2009.
Pass this warning on to the women in your life!
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/actintime/haws/women.htm
http://www.holisticonline.com/Remedies/Heart/heart_attack_identifying.htm
Filed under: family | Tagged: heart attack, Oprah, women |
Jackieinpdx's Blog 
This is good information. Even for the men out there because we all have women in our lives. I hope your sister is feeling better now.
I sent an email to a bunch of friends and all of the people in my office. One of the women in my office told me today that she forwarded my email to Oprah. It will be interesting to see if anyone from her staff responds at all.
My sister seems to be doing OK. She is still a bit worn out from the two surgical procedures but that is to be expected. Her 20 year old son is not working right now and he still lives at home so he is taking good care of her.