A few weeks after that doctor’s appointment in March 2016, I started feeling strange. I had an uncomfortable feeling in my chest that lasted most of the morning. My body was also aching, so I didn’t know if it was my RA. Since I started feeling tight and gassy after lunch, I didn’t know if it was acid reflux /GERD. I took some OTC pain meds and Aspirin to be on the safe side and laid down.

Later that afternoon, when my youngest daughter took me to the grocery store, my chest was still bothering me. The pain wasn’t as bad as earlier, so I felt I was okay.

However, as I waited at the deli, my left shoulder and upper back began to bother me. I could feel my chest tightening. I thought it was a heart attack. 

As I waited in line, the pain in my chest seemed like it was letting up. I did not want to have a heart attack in the grocery store! How embarrassing!

I was still waiting to put my order in when the pain in my chest resurfaced. I didn’t want my daughter to see that I wasn’t feeling well, so I started walking around the produce department; I didn’t want her to worry. I was nervous enough.

As I walked through the produce department, I was unexpectedly overwhelmed with images of my death. I must admit I was troubled and scared. Therefore, I decided to go to the ER if the pain continued.

I returned to the deli department, where my daughter was still in line. I tried to be positive by thinking the tightness in my chest indicated that I had pleurisy or costochondritis. I was a little winded when I reached my daughter. I grabbed the sleeve of her jacket and hysterically rambled about how I thought I would die! I was more scared than I ever had been regarding my health issues. 

I was loud enough that the people waiting in line at the deli heard me tell my daughter that I was going to die. I was too upset to care what they thought and reiterated my fears while we continued to wait in line. 

My daughter was embarrassed by my sudden outburst. And though she was sympathetic to my condition, she quickly said I needed to get it together because I was scaring the little girl in the grocery cart next to ours. Really?!

I wasn’t in the emergency room long before being admitted to the hospital. The doctor attending me informed me that I would be having a cardiac catheterization /stent procedure the following day. I tried to dismiss the seriousness of what he was saying because my daughter was standing there.

However, I started reminiscing about my mother. I remembered her being extremely ill. My Nana (my mother’s mom) was always at the house, helping my mother take care of my two younger sisters and me.

I remembered watching my Nana trail behind my mother to the bathroom, where she would puke up her illnesses; then back to my mother’s bedroom, where Nana tried to make her as comfortable as possible.

Later that evening, my Nana prepared dinner for my sisters and me. After we ate, Nana put the three of us to bed. I was only five, but I remember feeling that something wasn’t right. I snuck out of bed just in time; my father was helping my mommy with her coat. Once he secured the scarf to her neck, the two of them disappeared never would my mommy see us again. My mother succumbed to her illness several days later. She was only 23 years old.

I didn’t think I would die, but facing another heart procedure had me longing for the mother I had not seen in over fifty years. Nevertheless, I still wished she was there with me.

It is now 2023, and things are good. I should exercise more than I do, but then I eat less junk than I did once. I take my meds every day, even though a few months ago, I skipped a few days of my (forgot to get my medicine refilled) Metropolol and had terrible palpitations. My cardiologist gave me a severe scolding for that blunder.

However, after that appointment in November 2022, I only need to see him again in November 2023; hooray! Despite that mishap, I must be doing something right.

I never thought I would be talking about me having heart disease, ever! I don’t know if there is anything to learn from my story because it is only my story. No scientific facts, just my account. However, I survived it, and I am genuinely thankful to God for allowing me to share my story.