This is a summary of my HEALTHY recovery after a heart attack on New Years Eve 12-31-2009. ~Wayne
* Heart Attack – True Story
* Baseline Visit – Part 1
* Biopsy – Part 2
* Heart Muscle Spasm
* Baseline Visit – Part 3
* Stem Cell Infusion – Part 4
* 2-Week Follow-up Visit
* March Follow-up Visit
* Cardo Visit 2 at County

This is an ongoing update of my HEALTHY recovery after a heart attack on New Years Eve 12-31-2009. ~Wayne

On Monday February 22 at 9am I noticed that I was having a slight intermediate twinge in my chest. It was minor and not painful, but I was having a twinge 4 or 5 times an hour. I made a call to a cardo nurse I know and she recommended I go to emergency.

I drove to emergency at 10am and checked-in. The doctor did an EKG and blood draw. Everything looked ok, but they wanted to keep me for observation. The muscle spasms continued – always the same. I felt like the boy who cried wolf.

They decided to check me in overnight for observation. I remember still having muscle spasms til 7pm that evening. The next morning, Tuesday, I woke up with NO spasms. Before I was released I was hooked up with a Holter monitor on my chest to wear home for 48 hour monitoring.

Note: This is an ongoing update of my HEALTHY recovery after a heart attack on New Years Eve 12-31-2009. Please click-on the category Heart Health to read all my updates. ~Wayne McDonald, age 54 and 136 pounds – healthy.

This is a continuation of my participation in the Stem Cell Research Program (referred to as CADUCEUS) with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. I volunteered to be a part of this Stem Cell Research Program because I have NO health insurance and I wanted the best health care available at Cedars. ~Wayne McDonald

On January 27, 2010 I was checked in at 6:30am for my stem cell biopsy (Check-in is two hours before a procedure).

The heart attack was on the LAD – Left Anterior Descending artery. The stem cell biopsy uses a catheter through a vein in the neck and then carefully threaded into the heart. The doctor uses moving x-ray images (fluoroscopy) to guide the catheter to the correct area. Once in position, a special device with jaws on the tip is used to remove small pieces (about 8 tissue samples about the size of a pin head) of tissue from the RIGHT heart muscle (healthy side-no heart attack).

At 7:30am I was in the operating room for my my stem cell biopsy. I was given a local numbing medicine (anesthetic) in my right neck. Because the anesthetic was a local, I was awake through the procedure. The entire procedure was about 30 minutes.

After the procedure I was moved upstairs for monitoring — blood draws every 8 hours to check my heart damage markers or cardiac enzymes, vital signs, and echocardiogram.

I was sent home about 4pm with a Holter monitor on my chest to wear home for 48 hour monitoring.

Note: This is an ongoing update of my HEALTHY recovery after a heart attack on New Years Eve 12-31-2009. Please click-on the category Heart Health to read all my updates. ~Wayne McDonald, age 54 and 136 pounds – healthy.

Blood tests confirm (or refute) suspicions raised in the early stages of evaluation typically in an emergency room, intensive care unit or urgent care setting. Such tests are sometimes called heart damage markers or cardiac enzymes.

The blood test most commonly used to confirm the existence of heart muscle damage is the creatine kinase (KREE’ah-teen KI’nas), or CK for short. A small fraction of the CK enzyme, CK-MB, is often measured as well. CK-MB shows an increase above normal in a person’s blood test about six hours after the start of a heart attack. It reaches its peak level in about 18 hours and returns to normal in 24 to 36 hours. The peak level and the return to normal can be delayed in a person who’s had a large heart attack, especially if they don’t get early and aggressive treatment.

Tests can measure the level of other cardiac muscle proteins called troponins (tro-PO’ninz), specifically troponin T (cTnT) and troponin I (cTnI). These proteins control the interactions between actin and myosin, which contracts or squeezes the heart muscle. Troponins specific to heart muscle have been found, allowing the development of blood tests (assays) that can detect minor heart muscle injury (“microinfarction”) not detected by CK-MB. Normally the level of cTnT and cTnI in the blood is very low. It increases substantially within several hours (on average four to six hours) of muscle damage. It peaks at 10 to 24 hours and can be detected for up to 10 to 14 days.

More information about CK enzyme Blood Tests for Rapid Detection of Heart Attack

A heart attack is a frightening event, and you probably don’t want to think about it. But, if you learn the signs of a heart attack and what steps to take, you can save a life–maybe your own.

If you’re a woman, you may not believe you’re as vulnerable to a heart attack as men–but you are. Women account for nearly half of all heart attack deaths. Heart disease is the number one killer of both women and men.

There are differences in how women and men respond to a heart attack. Women are less likely than men to believe they’re having a heart attack and more likely to delay in seeking emergency treatment.

Further, women tend to be about 10 years older than men when they have a heart attack. They are more likely to have other conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and congestive heart failure–making it all the more vital that they get proper treatment fast.

Women should learn the heart attack warning signs. These are:

* Pain or discomfort in the center of the chest.

* Pain or discomfort in other areas of the upper body, including the arms, back, neck, jaw, or stomach.

* Other symptoms, such as a shortness of breath, breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea, or light-headedness.

Women’s symptoms not as predictable

According to Patricia A.Grady, PhD, RN, Director of the NINR, “Increasingly, it is evident that women’s symptoms are not as predictable as men’s symptoms. This study offers hope that both women and clinicians will realize the wide range of symptoms that can indicate heart attack. It is important not to miss the earliest possible opportunity to prevent or ease AMI, which is the number one cause of death in both women and men.”

The women’s major symptoms prior to their heart attack included:

* Unusual fatigue – 70%
* Sleep disturbance – 48%
* Shortness of breath – 42%
* Indigestion – 39%
* Anxiety – 35%

Major symptoms during the heart attack include:

* Shortness of breath – 58%
* Weakness – 55%
* Unusual fatigue – 43%
* Cold sweat – 39%
* Dizziness – 39%

If you feel heart attack symptoms, do not delay. Remember, minutes matter! Do not wait for more than a few minutes–5 minutes at most–to call 9-1-1. Your family will benefit most if you seek fast treatment.

To learn more about women and heart disease:

Healthy Heart Handbook for Women