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Nikki by example - Just a girl trying to lead by example
  • Home
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  • About Nikki
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Health•Life

I Had a Heart Attack

June 2, 2017 by Nikki 8 Comments

I’m only 32 years old.

I’m only 32 years old and super healthy.

And yet I had a heart attack over memorial day weekend. It was a shock to everyone… me, my family, my friends, and my doctors.

I Survived a Heart Attack | NCsquared Life

I think it was this video – and a few online articles – that helped me recognize just what was going on. I really encourage you to watch the video, read the articles, and familiarize yourself with the signs because it just might save your life. Here’s my story:

I woke up on Saturday morning feeling completely normal. I nursed Sebastian and when I laid back down in bed, I immediately started feeling pain and a tightening sensation in my chest, jaw pain that felt like I had been clenching my mouth closed for hours, and a weird discomfort in my left arm. I didn’t know exactly what was happening at first but I knew something wasn’t right. I stood up and started pacing around my bedroom, telling Nick that I didn’t feel good and I was afraid it was something serious this time. I said “this time” because I have a history of anxiety and having panic attacks and, while panic attacks are very disturbing and certainly feel ominous, they aren’t usually life threatening.  This was different, though. It felt wrong. We decided to go to urgent care where they determined that I had really high blood pressure (which is normally on the low side for me) and abnormal EKG results, so the doctor sent me to the emergency room. He didn’t say it but it was pretty obvious that something serious was happening.

In the ER, several blood tests revealed elevated enzymes that are only present when there has been damage to the heart muscle. This really alarmed the doctors because they had never seen these results in someone so young and healthy. They moved me to the ICU, and after a procedure where they inserted a catheter into the arteries around my heart — and finding no clogs or other blockages — the doctors finally concluded that I must have had a small tear in the coronary artery, called a dissection. Due to lack of risk factors, they also determined it was likely pregnancy related, as pregnancy itself causes a lot of strain on the heart. Essentially, they think the tear caused the lining of my artery to flap up and block blood flow to my heart, resulting in the heart attack. But, luckily, the flap was pushed back down into place pretty quickly and began repairing itself. Good job to my body on that one!

I Survived a Heart Attack | NCsquared Life

Cuddling with my Sebastian monkey after being moved out of the ICU.

My official diagnosis is Coronary Artery Dissection. Apparently, while this type of heart issue is rare, it is a common type of heart attack/issue in pregnant and postpartum women. They’ve put me on several medications for the next year that will thin my blood, keep my blood pressure stable, and help protect my heart as it continues to heal. I will also have many follow up appointments in the coming weeks and months.

NCsquared Life

I think I’m fortunate that I’m going to be okay, but I shudder to think what would have happened if I hadn’t trusted my intuition and taken the warning signs seriously. You know how people always say, “oh, you just know” when you ask them to describe something? Well, I would get so angry because I would think, ‘okay, but how do you know you’ll know?’ I was always afraid I would missing something significant and my health would rapidly decline, or even worse, I would die. That’s been my biggest fear in life, and my biggest anxiety trigger. But I can now say that I understand what they mean when they say “you just know” because you really do. It’s a feeling, a gut reaction, an intuition. And if something happens that doesn’t feel quite right or “normal” but you’re still in doubt, then take that to mean that you just figured out what “you just know” means!

Now to the education piece: the symptoms of a heart attack are different for men and women. According to the American Heart Association, symptoms in women include:
–Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest. It lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
–Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
–Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
–Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
–As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort.

But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting, and back or jaw pain.

I experienced at least three of these symptoms simultaneously. If you have any of these signs, call 9-1-1 and/or get to a hospital right away.

My message to you is if you think something serious is going on, get it checked out,even if it does end up being something non life-threatening. Better safe that sorry, right?

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Life

Wearing Red for Heart Health

Nikki by example
February 2, 2018 by Nikki 4 Comments

Are you wearing red?

I hope so because today is National Wear Red Day in order to raise awareness of heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases that affect women. According to the website, “cardiovascular disease in the U.S. kills  approximately one woman every 80 seconds. The good news is that 80 percent of cardiac events may be prevented with education and lifestyle changes. Go Red For Women advocates for more research and swifter action for women’s heart health.”

Nikki by exampple

photo source

The whole month of February is Heart Health Month. In the past, I didn’t give this topic much thought, being a young and healthy woman. This year, as you might imagine, it holds a much deeper meaning for me. You see, I am a heart attack survivor.

I don’t have heart disease and I had no other risk factors except pregnancy. However, I made it a point to know the warning signs (I can thank my anxiety for that) and it really did save my life. So, I encourage all of you to take a minute to think about what you’re doing for your heart and then take a few steps to do better.  If you don’t know how, a good place to start is the NC Division of Public Health’s website. And while you’re there, you can read the interview I did with them.

Nikki by example

Sebastian and Mommy wearing red to show our support for heart health.

Today I’m wearing red for myself and for my son, Sebastian. I’m lucky to still be here to love him and to take care of him. He’s the best reason I need to take care of my heart. So,  please take care of your heart so it can take care of you.

Why do you wear red?

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Health•Life

Four Years

May 27, 2021 by Nikki No Comments

I haven’t been posting regularly, but I am still here. And this is especially relevant today.

On this day four summers ago, on the start of Memorial Day Weekend 2017, I suffered a heart attack at 32 years old.

I had just returned to a new job from a very brief maternity leave (only 6 weeks) and was looking forward to a long weekend of baby snuggles and a nice family picnic. However, instead of spending that time on a colorful blanket in the warm sunshine with my boys, I spent it in a cold, bright hospital room in the cardiac ICU recovering from a spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD). It was truly one of the scariest things to ever happen to me and my family, and there were so many questions, some of which are still unanswered.

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Life

Gratitude Month: Week 3

November 23, 2020 by Nikki No Comments

I’ve concluded the yet another week of practicing gratitude every day this month for National Gratitude Month.

Here’s what I was thankful for:

Day 15: In light of all that we’ve been through this year, I’m grateful that I’m still able to find joy where I can. For example, normally I’m one of those people who believes we absolutely should wait until one holiday passes before we celebrate the next. Thanksgiving first and then Christmas. But this year, we’ve thrown it all to the wind and it’s so much fun to do what we want! I decorated for Halloween at the end of August and we put up our Christmas tree on Sunday. While we haven’t fully decorated our tree yet, it does have lights and those lights make me extremely happy, filling me with cheer and hope even as the days get shorter and the nights get colder and the coronavirus cases spike again. We may just leave this tree up for all of 2021.

Day 16:  I’m thankful that sometimes things aren’t always as bad as they may initially seem. When you suffer from anxiety, there’s a tendency to always overthink and misread. Luckily, things often work out just fine despite our worst fears, and I’m very grateful for that. Last month I made a very tough–and honestly, stupid–decision to leave my current job at the end of the month to pursue something I’m more passionate about. I’ve been miserable at work for a while now (what else is new?) and it has been affecting my physical and mental health. I don’t have anything concrete lined up yet but a few things are in the works so I have hope and am thankful that I’m able to take this huge leap right now at a time when everything is so uncertain.

Day 17: I’m grateful for tummy tickles and blissful laughter at bedtime. Parenting is hard. Being a 3.5 year old with big feelings and little control over them is hard. So when we get a chance to just play and laugh, we take it even if delays bedtime. Tonight, after reading our bedtime stories, I laid in Sebastian’s bed with him and tickled him while he laughed and just enjoyed the time I get to spend with him. He’s growing up so fast so I’m incredibly thankful for these little moments.

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Life•Wedding

Cheers to 9 Years! A Love Letter to My Husband on our Anniversary

October 1, 2020 by Nikki No Comments

You know those cute little elderly couples you see on the news or social media who dress in matching outfits and are unknowingly photographed doing little things to demonstrate just how much they still love each other after all these years? I used to read about those couples and wonder if it was true. It seemed like over time love would eventually fade away or get lost between deepening wrinkles. It just seemed to make sense that you would probably get to so used to being together that the other person became nothing more than a presence. People grow apart, after all, and there are countless books written and movies made about escaping loveless marriages with boring partners. Could you really could fall in love with someone and stay in love with them for the rest of your life?

The answer is yes.

I know this because in August 2003, I met the man who has proven to me time and time again just how true it is. And today we’ve been married for 9 phenomenal years!

Nikki by example | www.nikkibyexample.com

My amazing husband, Nick.

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About Me

Hi, I’m Nikki. This is where I blog about my life and personal style. I’m a wife and mom, public health professional, sushi lover, wine enthusiast, and coffee snob. Welcome to my little corner of the world where I try to lead by example!

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