It Was Nothing Like A Typical Heart Attack: A Patient’s Story
10/20/2023
When Jean Rivich woke up at Northwest Health – Porter on May 19, she learned she had experienced a near fatal heart attack. No one was more surprised than her.
“I was shocked,” said Jean. “I’ve always been so healthy. I watched what I ate and worked out almost every day. My only health complaint was my persistent heartburn that seemed to keep getting worse.”
Jean recalls waking up around 2 a.m. on May 14 feeling ill. “I took Alka-Seltzer to try to get more comfortable. It didn’t help, so I took Pepto-Bismol later in the morning in hopes that it would relieve my stomach pain.”
Mike, Jean’s husband, recalls, “Jean began visibly shaking while sitting on the couch that morning and asked for a bucket, thinking she may get sick. I left the room momentarily to feed the cat, when I heard Jean cry out. Next I heard a loud thud. When I ran back, I found her unconscious on the floor, and that’s when everything started.”
Mike immediately called 911 and started CPR. The paramedics arrived within minutes and transported Jean by ambulance to Northwest Health – Porter, an Accredited Chest Pain Center.
When Mike got to the emergency department a doctor explained that Jean’s heart had stopped and although they were repeatedly shocking it with a defibrillator, she wasn’t sustaining a heartbeat.
“It was all so scary,” recalls Mike.
Jean was rushed to the cath lab, a specialized area used to perform minimally invasive procedures to diagnose and treat cardiovascular disease. In the cath lab, the heart care team discovered that Jean had 100% blockage of the left anterior descending artery, the largest artery in the heart – informally referred to as the widow-maker.
Due to the severity of her heart attack, the cardiologists placed two small heart pumps – one in each side of Jean’s heart – to assist her heart’s pumping function, and then placed stents to open up the blockage and return blood flow to the heart.
Jean was moved to the ICU where she was put on a ventilator to help support her breathing. The team then induced a medical coma and therapeutic hypothermia, or medically induced cooling of the body’s temperature, to help reduce damage to her brain, heart and organs, and improve Jean’s chances of recovery.
Five days after the heart attack, Jean was weaned off the hypothermia protocol and ventilator. As Jean’s heart became stronger, the heart pumps were removed. She was released from the ICU after a week with orders to rest at home.
“I learned from my heart team that even though I was doing everything right, genetics were to blame for my near fatal heart attack. They said my healthy lifestyle was a huge factor in my recovery and survival,” said Jean. “That and of course the exceptional care I received from the paramedics, ER team, the heart team, and the caregivers in ICU. We are so grateful to everyone for the amazing level of care I received. I’m alive today because of them.”
A Lesson to Share
“My friends and relatives still can’t believe this happened to me – but it did; and I want everyone to know my experience was nothing like a ‘typical’ heart attack. All along I thought I had heartburn.”
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