I wrote an essay (16 pages), about my experience. Here is the 2/22 part: When Something Needed to Be Done:
During the second week of February, 2022, I woke up during the night feeling ill - a food poisoning or stomach virus type of feeling. I was on my way to the bathroom when I very suddenly became dizzy and unsteady and I quickly passed out, one of the signs of a heart attack in women. Jim (husband) woke up and called 911. I was taken to Saratoga Hospital where I had a catheterization and it was determined that I was not having a heart attack. In fact, my arteries were described as "pretty clean." I did break two ribs when falling, verified months later. It was extremely painful, worse than childbirth. The hospital staff poo pooed the idea that something else was amiss and said there was nothing on an x-ray, but did give me Tylenol. It took several weeks before they were fully healed, I had to sleep in a recliner because it was extremely painful to get out of a bed.
After discharge I had a consultation with Dr L (cardiologist), it was clear to him that the continued thickening of the ventricle wall, causing disruption in blood flow, was the reason for this incident. I had obstructive HCM. He said in no uncertain terms that this was life-threatening and it was my decision to take action. “Your family will miss you.” Surgery is available to alleviate this condition and I - much to his relief - opted to pursue this route even though I was petrified. Only a few places perform this surgery, called a Septal Myectomy and the two places he recommended were the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN and a hospital in Boston MA. Even though both places were highly reputable, I quickly chose the Mayo Clinic based on its reputation in treating heart ailments and its world-wide reputation in general. As I researched further, I learned that the Mayo Clinic has done thousands of these surgeries since 1959.