SometimesMonkey

I went through a heart attack at 27, despite being in perfect health. I just want to wish you a speedy recovery.

Also, and I wish someone had stressed this to me: cardiac rehab is very important. If you want your numbers to improve during recovery (EF, oxygen output, etc.) do cardiac rehab very seriously.

It may feel light and kind of like a joke. But it helps a lot.

Good luck.

5 years seems so incredibly lenient

My heart attack was caused by an infarct, due to a blood clot, in the left descending coronary artery. This in turn was likely caused by a pulmonary embolism which started out as a deep-vein thrombosis in my right calf.

That was probably caused by clotting due to kicking a bag really hard as part of Muay Thai training.

Why would a pulmonary embolism lead to an infarct on the left side, and that too in an artery (where blood pressure is usually too high to allow blood to coagulate)? Two theories: the PE caused the pressure to drop thereby allowing the blood to clot, or the PE crossed through a leaky valve in the heart into the left side.

Prior to this I was in pristine health. Martial arts 6 days a week, very active. The doctor said that other than the blood clot my arteries were completely clear; I didn't even have the normal amount of plaque that someone would have at 27 years old.

These things don't just happen. It seems that everyone is freaking out a little bit, but you won't just up and have a heart attack. In my case it was the perfect storm, triggered by physical trauma. I also reacted a little bit late (I thought the pressure in my chest was the flu at first), and that probably was not the best idea.

If you have chest pain, if it radiates from sternum to back or through your chest cavity, or is accompanied by weakness in the jaw or the arm: no matter how mild, GO TO THE HOSPITAL. Make sure they do an EKG.

Feeling/looking silly will pass; the doctors there will forget your face if nothing turned out to be wrong.

A heart attack will not pass - it will kill you if you do not get treated.