WOW, anovaguy! Glad you're okay. You were very lucky!

Happy Holidays to you and your family!

Thanks goodness you are all right.

That ache in your arm is a classic symptom of heart disease/heart "attack" (myocardial infarction), other odd symptoms include an ache in your neck, jaw or shoulder on the left side, sometimes even a left side back ache. The usual sign is "crushing substernal chest pain", but it's not unusual to have an atypical presention like yours. The physicians did all recognize it, albeit they did seem to want to minimize it. I'm not sure why, unless they did not want to alarm you too much, but they sent you off for all the right tests. I'm glad you got them, and the outcome is good for you.

WOW. Thank you for sharing. I hope you're on the mend and have a healthy, prosperous, blessed new year.

Thanks to everyone for their good wishes.

I am on the mend; started working out slowly a couple of days ago but will not be able to get into the full swing of things until the blockage in my left artery is opened and stented - this is scheduled to take place on January 5.

momj47, you are right about an ache in the left arm being one of the warnings of something possibly being wrong with the heart. What confused matters in my case was that I was able to exercise vigorously despite the extent of the blockages without any shortness of breath or chest pain. I am told that it is because I probably had developed a lot of collateral circulation in my heart as a result of being active and exercising. Collateral circulation, as I understand it, are minor arteries that form providing additional blood to the heart. However if the major artery from which these collateral arteries branch gets blocked then the heart would still end up being starved off blood and a heart attack will occur.

I still cannot get over how close I came to something catastrophic happening. The one good thing is that several of my relatives and friends who are totally shocked by what happened to me have become a lot more alert to the need to go and get checked out and to generally take better care of themselves.

I hope that my story will motivate others on this forum to make sure that their friends and loved ones don't ignore warning signs.

A happy, healthful and prosperous new year to everyone.

anovaguy, congratulations on -- well, living to tell the story! I have a similar story but the disease would have been melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer. Had I not taken my friend's pushy advice to go see a doctor for a physical after 3 years of not having gone (I wanted nothing to do with doctors after my baby's birth...long story) -- I went to a doctor she swore was intelligent and respectful. He turned out to be both of those; in addition, he found several suspicious moles, and two of them turned out to have been "early evolving melanoma", not merely dysplastic like the others, but already turning into melanoma which kills FAST. If I'd waited another year I could have not been there to wait the next year.

Now there are plenty of times when doctors miss things that prove to be catastrophic (including stories I heard later of doctors aggressively invalidating patients' concerns and *denying* referrals to have a mole checked out that later turned out to be cancer, including causing one person's father's death), but this was a time when one caught something.

So I would add to both our stories that although we got lucky, going and getting checked out isn't *necessarily* the be-all and end-all; sometimes it takes believing your own gut instincts and *pushing* for doctors to take you seriously when they would rather push you out the door.

flyleft, thanks for your comments. I did not have a chance to respond with so much going on.

You are so right about being proactive when it comes to medical issues and being willing and able to question and "push" medical professionals. We have to do this in our own best interest.

Three days ago, I went back to have an angioplasty perfomed in my left coronary artery (LAD) - the one that was 80% blocked - and a stent was placed in that artery as well. I had the procedure performed in a DC hospital that has one of the best heart programs. My wife - who happens to be a physician - found out that a new medication was being added to the ones that I was already taking after the first angioplasty. This one is a beta-blocker and so she asked the inteventional cardiologist who did the procedure why I needed this medication. He said that he did not prescribe it and perhaps the nurse practioner who had done my initial screening before the procedure had decided to prescribe it.

Now a beta-blocker can be a life-saver for many people but it also has side effects - like just about every medication does. Also, once one starts taking beta blockers, one frequently has to continue taking it just about forever. If one stops, one has to be weaned away from it - otherwise it can be dangerous and potentially fatal.

I declined the beta-blocker because my medical profile just does not require it. If my wife had not noticed it - and had the medical background to assess the need for it - I'd probably have ended up taking it just because a nurse practioner had made the medical judgement that I should be on it.

It is unfortunate but a sad reality that we cannot just accept medical judgements/evaluations at face value - although the natural inclination is to do so.

I'm glad you are okay, and that you heeded the advice of your friends and others. It's very sad the way some people are dismissed by these so-called 'professionals.' A family member passed away last year from a massive heart attack. He was being treated for GERD for a couple years. In April he almost passed out in church, then again he almost passed out at my home. I advised going to the ER but he called his doctor instead who in turn called in another prescription for stomach meds. In May the very same thing happened, until early June when he was vomitting, nauseated and very weak. He was dizzy and needed to rest quite a lot. Still the doctor didn't heed these signs and instead put him on anxiety medication thinking that perhaps he was anxious. At the urging of several family members, he went back to his doctor but again was dismissed and referred to a gastro specialist. Mind you, he had seen the specialist earlier in the year and nothing was wrong with his stomach or intestines. He saw the gastro specialist on the Friday before his death, and was told to take more stomach meds. This person had his heart attack on the Saturday after seeing these quacks! I have zero confidence in most doctor from my area, and my family is now in the process of a malpractice suit. This should NOT have happened!

Anyway, I will print your report and keep it safely. Heart disease apparently runs in my family because we have had three new 'young' people diagnosed with abnormalities which we would never have known had I not insisted on everyone being tested...

what's also sad is that many people just live w/ a dull ache in their arm, and end up dying of a heart attack.

I know I've been guilty of putting off medical attention, and of having that nearly be dangeorus at least once!

Pain is a warning sign--heed it. Fast.

mariposatraicionera, so sorry to hear about the tragic case of your relative. I can tell you from personal experience that finding responsive and expert medical assistance is not always easy even in the DC metro area. I am fortunate that since my wife is a physician who works at a major teaching hospital, she is able to utilize the resources of that center for consultations and/or treatment when it comes to family members. It was, in part, the insistence of physicians in the cardiology department at her medical center that provided the impetus to have a cardiac catherization done.

One other piece of information that may be of value to forum participants: for anyone who is ever faced with a situation requiring cardiac catherization - the two imperatives when it comes to such a procedure is that it is done by a cardiologist who does at least 75 of these procedures annually and it is done at a facility that has a by-pass program as well. The latter is important because there is an inherent risk that during angioplasty and stent placement, damage can be caused to an artery which would necessitate immediate by-pass surgery. If this should occur, time is of the essence and being at a facility that can perform by-pass surgery is a god-send.

Mine was done at a facility that does an average of 70 cardiac catherizations a day!! The interventional cardiologist who did mine does 6-8 daily! I now have to go to my regular cardiologist for follow-up visits since the interventional cardiologist does not do any "regular" cardiac care. It is amazing how specialized everything has become.

talley_sue_nyc, your comment that "many people just live w/ a dull ache in their arm, and end up dying of a heart attack" is probably true. In my case, the moment I told my wife about the ache she immediately scheduled an appointment with my internist for the very next day. I went and cancelled it telling her that she was over-reacting! So I know exactly what you mean.

mariposatraicionera, was your family member going to a gastro specialist for all of his symptoms? I say this gently, but really, after so many unsuccessful medications and advice, as well as misdiagnosing stomach problems, you would think that the patient would seek an evaluation from an internist, family practice doctor, or DO for a more rounded 'solution seeker' that would look at the bigger picture. Sometimes 'specialists' have a narrow scope. I've noticed it before dealing with health care providers.