In light of this conversation about advocating for yourself, I want to tell you what happened last week. I woke up around 1:00 AM and felt nauseated, lightheaded, cold, clammy and shaky. I had never felt like this and, for some reason, I immediately thought of a heart problem. I am aware that women present themselves differently when it comes to coronary problems. So, I called an ambulance. I told the EMT’s my theory about women presenting themselves differently. As it turned out, the EMT’s did not take me seriously
and, in turn, neither did the hospital triage nurse. I was told to sit in the waiting room( which I did for 4 hours).
I finally got into a room and, after another good hour, met the ER attending doctor. He listened very carefully and decided to do an EKG and have blood work done. Both came back not normal. He wanted to take my blood every couple of hours to see if there was any change for the better. That did not happen. He called in the cardiology team and they decided that I needed a heart catherization. Before I could even think, I was whisked away. To make a long story short, I had a heart attack!
The bottom line: you must be proactive and advocate for yourself. A lesson well learned.