铁人三项运动员的疼痛是一种罕见的心脏病发作的开始

MaryKay West was at work in Portland, Oregon, after a long weekend in Southern California. Her husband, Jeff, had a work assignment there and she and their daughter, Anna, had visited. They'd gone for walks, shared nice meals and done a little sightseeing. 和往常一样，玫琳凯去跑步了.

她从小就是竞技运动员, MaryKay was a state champion sprinter in high school and went on to become to a regionally ranked masters triathlete in her early 50s.

On this January morning, MaryKay arrived at work straight from the airport feeling energized.

After work, she was supposed to introduce a group of panelists at an event. 从她的办公室走向她的车，她的喉咙收紧了. 她觉得自己无法吞咽.

“真奇怪，”她想.

开车去参加活动时，她感到胸口有压力. 它慢慢地移到她的下颌.

在活动中, 她和其他商业房地产专业人士聊天, 希望压力和痛苦会消退. 相反，它恶化了，辐射到她的手臂上.

After introducing the panelists, she whispered to a colleague that she wasn't feeling well and left.

尽管她知道下巴和手臂疼痛是心脏病发作的症状, 她还认为, “那是不可能的. 我很健康. 我是运动员. 我没有高血压. 我没有理由会犯心脏病."

At the hospital, MaryKay had normal blood pressure and heart rate readings. 心电图显示没有问题.

但她的症状还在继续.

“有点不对劲，”医生说.

她给我做了各种检查. A blood test showed high levels of troponin, a sign that she'd had a heart attack.

第二天早上杰夫到了，发现玫琳凯感觉更糟了.

On the monitor he saw that her blood pressure had spiked and asked for help. A trauma nurse arrived with a red "crash cart" stocked with emergency medical equipment in case of a cardiac arrest.

玫琳凯胸痛加剧，呼吸急促.

“我现在真的很害怕，”她告诉杰夫. 她想她可能会死.

原计划的冠状动脉造影提前了. The procedure revealed MaryKay had a rare type of heart attack called a spontaneous coronary artery dissection, 或竹荚鱼. It isn't like a traditional heart attack, where a clot blocks blood from reaching the heart muscle. 而, 由于分离，血流被挤出, 或撕裂, 在动脉壁层之间.

SCAD患者通常没有心脏病的危险因素. 它们也相当年轻、健康、活跃. 玫琳凯当时56岁.

Doctors said the tear would heal itself and that she would be treated with medication. 四天后，她回家了.

“我非常、非常疲劳，”她说. “我真的能感觉到眼泪所在的地方很痛."

She wasn't allowed to use stairs for a week and could only walk on flat surfaces.

“我每天步行五分钟, 从客厅到餐厅, 进了厨房，下了走廊,她说.

她在一个SCAD幸存者的在线小组中找到了社区.

一个月后, 玫琳凯开始了心脏康复, 这帮助她理解了自己的新局限.

同时, her doctor strongly encouraged her to do physical activities only for fun, 不是为了运动.

A型竞技运动员的一面对我说, “我要通过康复治疗，恢复身材,’”她说。. “但另一方面我更现实. 这在情感上非常非常困难."

Three years later, MaryKay has found the plus side of not competing. “现在, 我和我丈夫做同样的锻炼, 所以我们一起做的事情比以前多了,她说.

例如，八月份他们完成了50英里的自行车骑行.

玫琳凯对健康问题并不陌生. 她是一名乳腺癌幸存者, lost both of her parents to cancer and her brother and sister are cancer survivors. 她惊讶地得知心脏病是世界上排名第一的疾病. 1 killer of women and that the majority of cardiovascular disease is preventable and easily treatable.

“让人们知道这一点非常重要，”她说.

在过去的四年里, she has served on the Executive Leadership Team for the 美国心脏协会's Go Red for Women movement in Portland.

MaryKay had one incident 10 months after her SCAD, where she had extreme chest pain. 她担心会复发，但不是. 可以用药物治疗. 大约30%的SCAD患者会再次发病.

Because of that experience, and her limitations, she thinks about her heart health every day.

“这就是我的现实. 如果这种情况再次发生，我知道该怎么做。. "My heart is strong and 我很健康, I take my meds and see my doctor regularly. 如果有人有机会在另一场SCAD中幸存下来，那就是我."

发自内心的故事 chronicles the inspiring journeys of heart disease and stroke survivors, caregivers and advocates.

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