It’s embarrassing to admit that despite my years advocating for women’s rights, I recently failed an assertiveness test with life-threatening consequences.While sipping a bowl of soup at home, in the space of 60 seconds, I went from perfectly fine to wretched. Drenched in marathon-runner sweat, and battling next-level nausea, I also had a strange inclination to saw off my aching left arm.
But the inexplicably sore arm and excessive sweat were concerning. So while leaning over the toilet, I asked my husband to consult Dr. Google. His search for “heart attack symptoms, women” delivered an alarming list that mirrored my own. I chewed an Aspirin as advised and he drove me to the nearby urgent care centre.
In my memory, she practically shouted the words, “You’ve had a heart attack!” That’s what it took for her to puncture my belief that my low heart rate, clear echocardiogram and decades of clean living meant there was “nothing to see here.” The concern in his voice caused me to confess that I hadn’t known enough to realize I should be. But an hour later, watching on a computer monitor as a masked doctor in scrubs vigorously manipulated my wrist like a Game Boy to send the catheter up through my arm toward my heart, it all became clear: one wrong move and that catheter could poke a hole in the sensitive system that was keeping me alive.
The good news is, your arteries have three layers, and so an internal tear isn’t as dire as it might sound; it usually heals in a month or so.