I am a 58-year-old female who had a heart attack three weeks ago. The symptoms had been there for about a month: brief periods of a burning pain in my chest, and pain in my jaw, face, shoulder, back and arm, all on the right side. I awoke in the night with the pain and this time it wouldn't ease up. I took aspirins and started vomiting. I went to the emergency room and it was determined that I was having a heart attack. Three stents were placed in my heart. I've been home for almost three weeks and doing a total lifestyle change. I am not overweight and I have low blood pressure, and the pain was on my right side instead of the left. It's best to get all pain diagnosed instead of waiting like I did. A heart attack can hit women in many different ways.

My husband is 58 and had chest pain but, like so many, relegated it to heart burn. (He suffers from acid reflux.) He told me on the first evening that he felt as if someone had punched him in the chest. I wanted to take him to the ER, but he would not go. I gave him an aspirin and some antacid. Next afternoon, he took himself to the doctor who told him to get some Mylanta on the way home, but that his blood pressure was high so he wanted to see him next morning at 8:30. He was sent for blood tests (25 miles away -- he drove himself there and back). The doctor called my husband at 11 a.m. and told him to come right to his office. This time, I went with him. I told the doctor I was on my lunch hour and he said, "It's going to be a long lunch hour." My hubby was taken by ambulance to a hospital 45 miles away. He spent three days in the ICU and was sent to another hospital 150 miles away for a dye test. There is slight damage to his heart and minimal damage to his arteries, and one month later, he is recovering well. We have a new lifestyle, but we are so thankful. Don't play around! Go to the ER even if you feel slightly "off."

I'm a 56-year-old man who had a heart attack. It was on a hectic Tuesday morning. The first symptom was aching in my left shoulder, which I attributed to sleeping wrong the previous night. Shortly after that came profuse sweating and a clammy, uneasy feeling. Then the pressure in my chest began. I was certain it was indigestion. Eventually, I knew what was happening and, in disbelief, I drove to the local ER. I have received both cheers and jeers for driving myself. I truly believe I saved valuable time by doing so. I never felt I was losing control at that point. The ER staff reacted immediately. In a short time, a stent was placed. I think reacting as quickly as I did, along with the prompt ER treatment, saved me from "the big one." It got my attention, and now I'm trying to make the necessary lifestyle changes.

I was a 32 year old female who worked in the hospital. I had worked all day and had 1 more hour left of my shift. I went out to smoke as I always did. When I came back in, I was walking down the hall and I suddenly felt like I was getting the flu. All the joints in my upper body ached on both sides. I sat down for a bit. Someone was talking to me and I felt like I was fading away. I had to get up and move. I felt very agitated and couldn't sit still. Then the sweating came. In seconds, I was drenched. I told my coworkers that I didn't feel right and I was going to the ER. I thought it might be my blood sugar. The ER doc immediately pushed the chair I was in to the bed because he said something didn't look right. They did EKG and it was normal. About 10 mins. later I had a pain in the center of my chest. Did another EKG and said I was having a heart attack. They gave me Retavase and had me airlifted to the bigger hospital. I had a heart cath and 2 stents placed. 2 days later, I had another heart attack, another cath, and 2 more stents. Needless to say, I had major life changes. Quit smoking and try to live a healthy life. At 32 who would have thought. But it has been a year and I'm still here.

I am a cancer patient. During a chemotherapy treatment last December, I had an anaphylactic reaction to the chemo. Six days later, as I sat on the living room couch doing the Sunday crossword, I felt a severe pain under my breastbone and suddenly felt extremely ill. I knew immediately what was happening and asked my daughter to call 911. I was quickly transported to the hospital, where I actually went into cardiac arrest in the ER. Luckily for me, I was stabilized and sent on to another hospital with a cardiac catheterization unit where I had a stent placed. Even luckier, because of the immediate treatment, I had no damage done to my heart. The cardiologists believe that the anaphylaxis was the trigger (if not the underlying cause) of the attack.