What NOT to do when having chest pain

I just posted this on someones post..but i think its worth starting a new thread. Its very long..but..directed to the people out there that dismiss chest pain as...nothing. Its true story..and please read the whole thing. It happened in 2009..my husband has since developed Atrial Fibrillation AND Atrial Flutter as well, but not more heart attacks.
YET.

Let me tell you MY story, about my husband. He was 50 at the time. NO risk factors except about 20 lbs overweight and hadnt been to the Dr in 30 years. ( he said he was healthy..why go!?!?...grrr!) No family history except a mom with Afib. So..we are heading to a casino an hour and a half away from home. Hes driving. On  the highway. About 4 minutes into the trip, hes rubbing his upper left chest..that little area near the shoulder thats kind of soft,just to the right of the armpit on the chest. He rubs his shoulder. He flexes his left arm. I ask whats wrong. He said, he feels "funny"...and it hurts in that left chest area. Me, being a heart problem fanatic...suspects the worst. I say, lets go back home. Nope. He wants to go to the casino..eat at the buffet and gamble. He keeps driving.
rubbing his chest and arm. I am about sick with worry.
We get there. He sits in truck breathing hard. I say lets go to the nearest hospital and get checked out. He said, no, im fine. (hes not normally a dumb person.)
He actually goes to the buffet, gets his food. I am not even eating. I am worried sick.
He tries to eat, and does..a bit. We go downstairs. He said he thinks he feels a bit better.
Still, unconsciously hes rubbing his left arm and chest area. the night is ruined, I dont eat, dont gamble. He didnt either---very long.Thats how I knew something was wrong..he was ready to go within a half hour.
He refused to let me drive!!! Down the interstate we go--75 mph!!!!
He was breathing harder....and his left arm felt weird, and that area upper left chest was really hurting. I begged to drive. I cried. I got mad, I did everything. Nope. He was going to drive.
It was an hour and a half to our house. I kept planning how if he passed out, that I would get unbuckled, and move him, to get my foot on the brake and steer at 75 mph!
This was a trip from hell, and very cruel for him to do to me.

I just kept my eyes on him, and my cell phone handy, and I prayed.
We got home--I thought he would go directly to the hospital. NOPE.
He went home, and went to BED!!!!
HE was irritable,  and said to leave him alone. Looking back, I shouldve called his brother..or best friend, or an AMBULANCE...but...because his pain wasnt right in the center of his chest like Ive read that it usually is...iwasnt 100% sure...
Well, he went to work the next day---he felt sort of "hung over"....but the pain was gone.
Hes a plumber!!! He does very physical work.
I MADE him call the Dr. I called the nurse ahead of time because I knew he would downplay what happened. She was ready for him, but ...he said he was "too busy" and couldnt go on that day--he could go the next day. She really lit into him but there was no making him go. So..thats Monday. The pain stuff and the wild ride was SATURDAY evening.
Tuesday morning he finally went to the Dr. The dr. made some mistakes. He judged him by first look. My husband not heavy by any means...no risk factors ( at that time) ...he said maybe ANXIETY ...and actually wrote him a prescription for XANAX for anxiety related chest pain!!!!
He did send him to the lab for blood work....saved his life doing that.
But... meanwhile, all looked good, so he let him go back to work, BEFORE THE DR CHECKED THE BLOODWORK RESULTS!

He gets a call at work about an hour after he got back, they tell him to go immediatly to the ER..that he is either having, or has had a heart attack.

I said NO KIDDING!!!!!!!

He spent the night in intensive care...but had no symptoms, nothing happened.
THey took him by ambulance to the bigger city to the better hospital the next day, and he had catheterization, and they found he DID have a heart attack and they put in a stent.

So...they said it happened on Saturday night, probably on the drive up or back---and they really really let him have it for all the risky stupid things he did.

Because he hadnt been to the Dr in 30 years, he was found to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, the whole bit.

he should have died. He did everything WRONG.

So...people, listen to your bodies ( or your WIFE!) they might be right!!!

..

[erijon]

Thanks for sharing, this is a great example.

[Occupant]

Yes, I know men can be pretty stupid sometimes, you don't have to rub it in.

[ChatterAlly]

Thanks. I can relate.  I went to the ER with "symptoms" when I had my first stent put in.  So naturally a year later when I had the burning aching in my chest that I had AFTER the stent was place, I ASSUMED that it was just another episode of chest pain.  That was a Friday morning. At work all day long the chest pain would come and go, and I felt "strange".  So after work, I decided to go to the ER. They did the EKG in triage and sent me back out to the waiting room to wait.  I thought, well this isn't a heart attack, so I went home.  I had chest pains off and on all weekend long. Went to work again on Monday, worked all day long with the chest pains coming and going. So after work I went back to ER.  This time I had the triage and sent back to the waiting room, but this time I was called in right away.  It was the blood work and Echo that told a better story. And to top this all off, I drove mysefl everywhere. I don't think I will ever change either. Now suffering with heart spasms, I feel I will ignore the symptoms of a heart attack.  I have had 3 so far. Why are we like this? Am I just too busy?

[Sugie1938]

I had a similar thing happen, except my X husband had all the risks. His father died of a massive heart attack at age 45, and a younger brother also died of a heart attack, just a few years prior. They were home, and his wife wanted to call an ambulance, but he wouldn't let her. They waited to long and he died. My husband was so angry about that for years.One morning he came and told me he had a weird feeling in his arm, said he never had anything like that before. We had been lifting boxes, and moving things becasue of water damage so thought it was from that, as my arms hurt too. About 30 minutes later he came and said the other arm was doing that.  Because of his family history, I said I was going to call the doctor. He became angry, saying it was labor day and he wasn't driving clear across town, from the mountains. I said I was calling anyway, and after about 20 minutes talking to nurses, and a doctor, they insisted he come in. He ended up having a 80% blockage, and had a stent. All the doctors and nurses he has ever seen said I saved his life. He still complains that his sister in law didn't do that. The morning after I brought him home from the hospital, he told me he didnt love me anymore and wanted a divorce. I am still glad I made him go, so sometimes you do what you think you need to do no matter what. I am glad your outcome has a happier ending.