Heavy on the Heart
Yesterday a co-worker came into my office to talk about something that was troubling her , she had been experiencing a tightness in her chest and some shooting pains in her arm and shoulder. This had been happening on and off for the last few weeks. She had dismissed it before , but she was worried as it was occurring again throughout the morning.
Unfortunately we woman are so used to taking care of everyone else, we often times neglect ourselves. We will "nudge" our spouses or partners to get check ups and will rush them off to the emergency ward at a drop of the hat, but we're afraid to listen to our own bodies. We worry about what it could be, yet are afraid, or tell ourselves that it's nothing. Often times the symptoms for a women's heart attack can be more subtle than that of a males.
I shut the door to my office and had a heart to heart conversation with my co-worker/friend, explaining that she should call her doctor, take off early, and go directly to a hospital or her doctor, which ever he recommends.
After about 10 minutes of discussion , she agreed to call her doctor, he made time for her, and she did leave to see him.
Luckily the preliminary tests yesterday were negative for a heart attack, and her doctor is having her do a stress test and other tests latter this week. Yesterday afternoon after she left the doctors office I got a call from her thanking me for encouraging her to go to the doctor. She had been worried ever since she had starting having pains a few weeks ago , but was afraid of the worse.
How often do women put off going to the doctor , thinking that either the pain will go away , it's nothing, or thinking the worse and not wanting to confront it? My co-worker was luckily in that it was not a heart attack, and her doctor is now working with her to get to the root of the problem.
I urge everyone to take care of themselves, don't keep putting off something like chest pains, it could be too late by the time a heart attack actually occurs! I know, I've lost family members to heart disease!
Baltic Waves
Unfortunately we woman are so used to taking care of everyone else, we often times neglect ourselves. We will "nudge" our spouses or partners to get check ups and will rush them off to the emergency ward at a drop of the hat, but we're afraid to listen to our own bodies. We worry about what it could be, yet are afraid, or tell ourselves that it's nothing. Often times the symptoms for a women's heart attack can be more subtle than that of a males.
I shut the door to my office and had a heart to heart conversation with my co-worker/friend, explaining that she should call her doctor, take off early, and go directly to a hospital or her doctor, which ever he recommends.
After about 10 minutes of discussion , she agreed to call her doctor, he made time for her, and she did leave to see him.
Luckily the preliminary tests yesterday were negative for a heart attack, and her doctor is having her do a stress test and other tests latter this week. Yesterday afternoon after she left the doctors office I got a call from her thanking me for encouraging her to go to the doctor. She had been worried ever since she had starting having pains a few weeks ago , but was afraid of the worse.
How often do women put off going to the doctor , thinking that either the pain will go away , it's nothing, or thinking the worse and not wanting to confront it? My co-worker was luckily in that it was not a heart attack, and her doctor is now working with her to get to the root of the problem.
I urge everyone to take care of themselves, don't keep putting off something like chest pains, it could be too late by the time a heart attack actually occurs! I know, I've lost family members to heart disease!
Baltic Waves
posted by Baltic Waves at 1:55 PM
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