I suffered my first heart attack 3.5 weeks ago. Half of my heart clogged because of high cholesterol and smoking. It started out with a constant chest pain. I began to get very worried as it worsened. I now have two stents in my heart.

At 36, never considered I would have a heart attack, especially not after I had visited a cardiologist with complaints of chest pain. He examined me and said all I suffered from was indigestion and a “low tolerance for pain.” Believe me, that embarrassed me so much that six months later when I started to have pain in both arms and in my throat and jaw, I chalked it up to allergies. This went on for 3 days until I collapsed in my living room and sweat began to pour out off me like a buckets of water. My husband called 911 and thankfully I had a different cardiologist that placed two stents in my 98% blocked artery. My previous doctor had disregarded my family history of diabetes (my grandmother, mother and sister all died of complications) and heart disease (which killed my father at the age of 46). Now have an extremely competent cardiologist who guided me through necessary bypass surgery and other ailments, including getting me in touch with a good endocrinologist for my insulin-dependent (type 2) diabetes. DO NOT LET ANYONE tell you that you have a low tolerance for pain...make them check you out anyway!!! It could mean saving your life....

I had my first heart attack at the age of 51 and if it were not for the amount of vomiting, I don't know that I would have gone to the hospital that day. It started around 2 that afternoon with heartburn (history of ulcers made it harder to diagnose) and pain down both arms and heaviness in jaw and chest. I waited 18 hours after my heart attack. My doctor said that was a widow maker attack, that he snatched me from the jaws of death. During the next year and half, I have been in and out for a grand total of 7 stents. Then two days after Christmas (which is also my birthday), I got really sick again. I thought it was the flu. I was informed that was my second widow maker. I have congestive heart failure with a left ventricular aneurysm. It cannot be repaired or bypassed. I developed pneumonia with my second heart attack and spent too much time on the ICU floor. I am disabled and on oxygen with 24/7 home health care. It is now time to discuss end of life decisions. Two words to everyone: DON'T WAIT.