Diane's Story
Life before SCAD
At age 73, I was enjoying my retirement in the Okanagan. I was in perfect health. I had just had my annual medical exam 3 weeks prior and everything was normal. The only blip was my total cholesterol being a bit high, but that was because my “good” cholesterol is high and that is what raises the total cholesterol. The doctor says that is nothing to worry about. Other than that, everything okay. I do not take any medication, including vitamins, no pills whatsoever. I have been a non-smoker since 1971. My weight has always been in the healthy BMI range. I have never been overweight. My fitness level is above-average for my age. The only stress in my life (other than putting up with my husband’s bad habits ☺) was having to wait for the results of my mammogram, as I had had to go for a second one because something didn’t seem normal. That was unsettling for me as I have had breast cancer twice before, the last time in 2001 where I had a mastectomy on the right side.
I am a walker/hiker and am out walking most days. I have walked an average of over 1,500 km yearly for the last 15 years. My current walks always include elevation gains between 200 m. and 400 m. My normal walks are 6km on a lazy day and 12km on an energetic day. In the past I have done many long-distance walks, eg. Both north and south boundaries of Jasper Park, pilgrimage walks – Camino Frances, Via de la Plata, le Chemin du Puy en Velay (Via Podiensis), Camino Portugues as well as the crossing of the Pyrenees from Atlantic to Mediterranean.
I was preparing myself for the upcoming cross-country skiing season. I was mainly concentrating on my upper body, arms, core and was doing exercises with tubing attached to a door frame. I was noticing that my upper left arm was sore and that my left arm would poop out before the right one. I made zero connection to possible heart problems.
On the whole, no health concerns except for a possible cancer recurrence.
My SCAD event
The x-c skiing season opened early with all the lovely snow we were having. We were on our 4th outing, and I felt sluggish from the get-go. I bailed out at the first opportunity and decided to wait for my husband at the chalet. I felt miserable, feeling like throwing up, wanting more air. I felt tightening in my upper chest and jaw and my left arm was sore. After 45 minutes or so, it settled down and by the time Peter came back, I felt okay. I jokingly told him I thought I was having a heart attack while waiting for him!!! I also didn’t make a connection to the fact that a few days before, while skiing, my left arm felt weak, and I would only use that pole when I needed to, else I would just tuck it under my arm, just as I hadn’t made any connection to heart problems while using my exercise tubing. The day passed, we had supper, including a bottle of wine, and by 9:00 pm, the symptoms came back. That is when I went on the Internet and Googled “female heart attack”. I then realized that maybe, just maybe, I should make my way to Emergency. Although I was still joking about a heart attack, in all seriousness, with my fitness level, that is the last thing I thought it would be. I was in disbelief when it was confirmed. I was connected with all these wires and still argued that I was in good health, that my medical 3 weeks prior had confirmed that. The doctor kept monitoring me and watching as my Troponin level kept creeping up. I was finally sent to Kelowna for an urgent angioplasty. The doctors there were commenting on how healthy and clean my arteries were, that is, until they got to the 3d obtuse branch of the circumflex where they found the problem. My troponin levels had gone up over 18, and when I asked Dr. Saw about it, she said that was a “little” heart attack. I stayed in the hospital 4 days and was sent home with a prescription for Ticagrelor, Bisoprolol and Aspirin. I took the Ticagrelor from mid-November to the beginning of April. I now take 5mg Bisoprolol and Aspirin. I don’t know if I have FMD. I will be tested for it in early September.
Life after SCAD
I haven’t changed much in the way I live except that I now feel sorry for myself and live “in fear”. If I didn’t live in stress before, I guess I do now! I still go for my walks, but now take it really cool on the uphills. I actually started walking again really soon after my discharge from the hospital. I would pick flat routes and walk only 3km. A month later I was up to 6km and two months later, I tackled the elevations. I still don’t go further than 10km. In January, I enrolled in Tai Chi. It didn’t look strenuous to me and I thought I might enjoy it. I do, and will keep on doing it.
I am now more careful with the amount of alcohol I drink. After our walks, we often sit on the patio with a beer. Now, I will only have 1/3 of a glass. If we have wine with dinner, I limit myself to one small glass.
I am careful with what I lift. If I am doing grocery shopping, I feel no qualms about asking someone in the parking lot to help me load my baskets into the car.
Pre-SCAD, I always thought the sword of Damocles hanging over my head was cancer. Now it’s SCAD, and that is worse than cancer because it happens out of the blue, whereas cancer happens gradually.