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Heart attack?
My boyfriend came over to my place Saturday morning, he brought breakfast for everyone, and a new game for our Wii which we all played happily until I had to take my 3 kids to thier Dad's place.
I also took my youngest son (his Daddy is my boyfriend) so he could nap in the car.
It was decided that when I got back into town I pick up my boyfriend and we go out shopping. I let him know I was going to be home soon, and much to my surprise when I was approaching my street, there he was waiting for me! I pulled over and he got in.
Right after he got in he started saying he was in pain. Every second that went by the pain got more intense.(he later told me that the pain started when he was there waiting for me, and if it wasn't me pulling up he was going to lay down in the snow, due to how he felt) He told me his chest and shoulders hurt.
He normally has issues with his shoulders when sleeping so I figured it was that, he also can be dramatic at times, so at first I was thinking he was just being overly dramatic. We barely made it down the road when I started to think that this was very bad. He was having trouble catching his breath, and he asked me to move our sons feet because he HAD to recline to seat.
I had to pull there car into a parking lot. After getting there, he was grimacing in pain, gasping for air, clawing at the interior of the car, his lips were turning a whitish colour and I was getting more and more panicked, as he was getting worse and worse. I asked him if he need to go to the ER, he said no, just get home now so he can lay down.
Home was only 2 mins away, so we arrive and he has trouble getting out of the car and up to the door.
I rush around and get my son out of the car, get inside and I can hear him in my room, yelling in pain. I rush up and he litterally writhing on the bed, grabbing pillows, sheets, clawing the the wall. I ask him repeatedly what do you need, what can I do, do you want me to call 911, what are you feeling etc.
He said NO 911! NO HOSPITAL! He wasn't really answering my questions about his pain, and I told him he either tells me or paramedics, I was scared to death at this point. Oh, he did tell me his head was hurting too. He kept saying too "What's going on? What's happening to me" I was shaking like a leaf! Besides me being in labor, I've never seen anyone in that much pain before.
He gets out of bed, into the washroom and tries and tries to make himself vomit, and he succeeded.
All these things combined...chest pain, shoulder pain, not being able to breathe, nausea.....it all seemed like a heart attack to me.
I went downstairs while he was in the washroom and dialed 911, it rang once and I hung up, for fear that he'd be furious at me for calling, but I was scared to death!
A minute later my phone rang I let it go. They called back and it was my local police dept. wondering what was going on, I told her and she put me through to the ambulance dept.
I told her what was happening, by the time I actually started having a conversation with her, he was feeling better.
Paramedics arrive and besides his blood pressure being too high, they said he was ok at that point.
So, they leave after about 10 minutes of being here checking him.
After all that, he still felt crappy.
He told me after the fact that the sore head he had during the episode, felt like brain freeze, and that maybe it WAS more serious than he thought.
While he was laying on my couch I looked up "heart attack symptoms" and withut telling him what it was, I read them off and he said "Yes, that all sounds like what I had, what is it?" I told him they were heart attack symptoms.
He was also here on the 7th (2 days prior to this incident) and when he got here, he started eating and started having trouble breathing and had to go lay down....he told me on Saturday after the incident, that what he felt on the 7th, was the same sort of thing, except this more recent time was 1000 times worse.
I'm scared to death for him. I think he's in denial! He says perhaps it's related to not drinking anymore, but I'm convinced it was a heart attack and that in some weird way the forcing himself to vomit saved him.
I should also mention that he's 38 years old, 6' 5.5" tall, about 325lbs and just recently quit drinking. (He has been a daily drinker for a very long time, and quit cold turkey(as far as I'm aware) on January 1 2010.
Non smoker, does not do drugs, eats fairly well. Weight is attributed to family genetics, as well as doing no exercise and having an office job therefore he's very much lacking in mobility.
I'm very concerned about him. I've asked him to go see his Dr and he won't. He doesn't seem to think there is a problem, and keeps asking me why I'm so concerned.
I also took my youngest son (his Daddy is my boyfriend) so he could nap in the car.
It was decided that when I got back into town I pick up my boyfriend and we go out shopping. I let him know I was going to be home soon, and much to my surprise when I was approaching my street, there he was waiting for me! I pulled over and he got in.
Right after he got in he started saying he was in pain. Every second that went by the pain got more intense.(he later told me that the pain started when he was there waiting for me, and if it wasn't me pulling up he was going to lay down in the snow, due to how he felt) He told me his chest and shoulders hurt.
He normally has issues with his shoulders when sleeping so I figured it was that, he also can be dramatic at times, so at first I was thinking he was just being overly dramatic. We barely made it down the road when I started to think that this was very bad. He was having trouble catching his breath, and he asked me to move our sons feet because he HAD to recline to seat.
I had to pull there car into a parking lot. After getting there, he was grimacing in pain, gasping for air, clawing at the interior of the car, his lips were turning a whitish colour and I was getting more and more panicked, as he was getting worse and worse. I asked him if he need to go to the ER, he said no, just get home now so he can lay down.
Home was only 2 mins away, so we arrive and he has trouble getting out of the car and up to the door.
I rush around and get my son out of the car, get inside and I can hear him in my room, yelling in pain. I rush up and he litterally writhing on the bed, grabbing pillows, sheets, clawing the the wall. I ask him repeatedly what do you need, what can I do, do you want me to call 911, what are you feeling etc.
He said NO 911! NO HOSPITAL! He wasn't really answering my questions about his pain, and I told him he either tells me or paramedics, I was scared to death at this point. Oh, he did tell me his head was hurting too. He kept saying too "What's going on? What's happening to me" I was shaking like a leaf! Besides me being in labor, I've never seen anyone in that much pain before.
He gets out of bed, into the washroom and tries and tries to make himself vomit, and he succeeded.
All these things combined...chest pain, shoulder pain, not being able to breathe, nausea.....it all seemed like a heart attack to me.
I went downstairs while he was in the washroom and dialed 911, it rang once and I hung up, for fear that he'd be furious at me for calling, but I was scared to death!
A minute later my phone rang I let it go. They called back and it was my local police dept. wondering what was going on, I told her and she put me through to the ambulance dept.
I told her what was happening, by the time I actually started having a conversation with her, he was feeling better.
Paramedics arrive and besides his blood pressure being too high, they said he was ok at that point.
So, they leave after about 10 minutes of being here checking him.
After all that, he still felt crappy.
He told me after the fact that the sore head he had during the episode, felt like brain freeze, and that maybe it WAS more serious than he thought.
While he was laying on my couch I looked up "heart attack symptoms" and withut telling him what it was, I read them off and he said "Yes, that all sounds like what I had, what is it?" I told him they were heart attack symptoms.
He was also here on the 7th (2 days prior to this incident) and when he got here, he started eating and started having trouble breathing and had to go lay down....he told me on Saturday after the incident, that what he felt on the 7th, was the same sort of thing, except this more recent time was 1000 times worse.
I'm scared to death for him. I think he's in denial! He says perhaps it's related to not drinking anymore, but I'm convinced it was a heart attack and that in some weird way the forcing himself to vomit saved him.
I should also mention that he's 38 years old, 6' 5.5" tall, about 325lbs and just recently quit drinking. (He has been a daily drinker for a very long time, and quit cold turkey(as far as I'm aware) on January 1 2010.
Non smoker, does not do drugs, eats fairly well. Weight is attributed to family genetics, as well as doing no exercise and having an office job therefore he's very much lacking in mobility.
I'm very concerned about him. I've asked him to go see his Dr and he won't. He doesn't seem to think there is a problem, and keeps asking me why I'm so concerned.
Next time don't hesitate to call 911 for an ambulance or drive straight to the ER (if in route). This guy should be in for a Cardiac Catheterization pronto to test for blocked arteries. At age 49 I had chest pains far less severe than he and on the way to the ER, after the pain subsided I just about talked myself out of going. If I had I may not be here - I was found to have blockage of 70% 70% 90% of the 3 main arteries. Shortly after the quintuple bypass I asked my heart surgeon how many bypass surgeries he did a week. His answer was 5 (and he was just one of many heart surgeons in this area). I then explained that I had friends who had potential cardiac symptoms but never addressed them - he just looked at me matter of fact and said, "and many guys just drop dead."
When you call 911, if he complains explain he is being selfish because your feelings come into this too. You was obviously scared stiff and need to take action. Just go for it next time, definitely the right thing to do.
I would rather someone be angry at me, than to have them die, knowing I could have maybe prevented it. It sounds like it could be a couple of things, but if I were to witness this, I would call 911 immediately. He won't be mad if you save his life. He may be going thru withdrawal from drinking and smoking, then stopping cold turkey. His weight and lack of exercise weighs heavily on his heart along with his history of smoking, so he needs to be checked out. You can't make him see a doctor, but you can call 911 immediately should this happen again, and at least they can check out his heart. Good luck to you.
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