In July 2020, Jessica Sharon, then 40, started feeling chills and tingling in her head, neck, back, and arms.

“It got really intense,” Sharon, 43, of Hamilton, Massachusetts, told TODAY.com. “Something was wrong.”

She went to the emergency room, where tests were performed but the results were inconclusive. Fearing she would be sent home without treatment, Sharon urged her doctors to continue testing her until they found the cause of her symptoms. Doctors eventually concluded that she had “suffered a severe heart attack, commonly known as a widowhood.” It earned its name by being deadly.

“I was really shocked,” Sharon said. “There was nothing that happened to indicate that I was at risk of having a heart attack.”

Strange sensations and inconclusive tests

When Sharon first experienced the chills, she wondered if they had started because she had spent all day outside in the heat. However, as her feelings intensified, she realized that they were not normal.

“I knew something was wrong,” she says. “It didn’t feel like normal chills, and it didn’t feel like a flu-like chill. It wasn’t. It was more intense.”

Her chills kept coming and going. With each new attack, her symptoms became more severe, so she decided to go to the emergency room. Doctors performed tests including an electrocardiogram and CT scan, but no abnormalities were found. But Sharon said her doctors let her go and she feared something terrible would happen after her.

“I cried when I saw the ER doctor,” she says. “I was adamant that (something was wrong) and was so scared that they would send me home.”

One of the emergency room doctors reassured Sharon, “We’re not going to let you go home until we understand what’s going on with you.”

Sharon was reassured that she wouldn’t be sent home without answers, but she noticed that her symptoms were getting worse.

“There was more pressure in my head,” Sharon says. “Her discomfort was unbearable and she began to feel unwell.” Her doctors checked her electrocardiogram again and this time observed that she was actually having a heart attack. did.

“I was young. I was healthy,” she says. “The biggest lesson I learned is that heart disease doesn’t really discriminate.”

Doctors performed a cardiac catheterization and threaded a long tube through a blood vessel in her groin to her heart and found that her left descending artery was 85% blocked. Blockage of this artery causes widowhood. It is often fatal if not treated immediately. Doctors placed a stent in her artery to clear the blockage and restore normal blood flow.

Doctors discovered two other small blockages and thought Sharon would eventually need bypass surgery. But at the time, they thought it was too risky to do so. After a few days, Sharon felt better and went home. About a month after her first heart attack, she started feeling unwell again.

“I started experiencing some strange episodes,” she says. “I was sure it was heart-related.”

Her cardiologist performed an electrocardiogram and other tests. Another heart catheterization test revealed restenosis, which causes blockages in her arteries even after a stent was inserted, the Cleveland Clinic said. This time she experienced a 95% blockage. In December 2020, Sharon underwent triple bypass surgery to prevent another heart attack.

“Recovery was actually difficult,” she says. “I have done everything I can to get to this point and have worked really hard to get healthy. It’s about listening to your body.”

Sharon, who has two sons, Joey, 17, and Charlie, 15, says their support has made her healing process “smooth”.

“I truly believe that their support and love played a huge role in my recovery,” she says.

woman and heart attack

Heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death for women, Dr. Laura Mauri, chief scientific, medical and regulatory officer at healthcare technology company Medtronic, told TODAY.com. Understanding all the signs of a heart attack is still essential to getting the right medical care quickly.

“Patients who come in with a heart attack can have a variety of symptoms,” Mauri says. “Not everyone, male or female, experiences the same symptoms.”

Mauri says signs of a heart attack include:

• chest pain
• Chest pressure
• shortness of breath
• neck, back, and arm pain
• excessive sweating

She added that anyone experiencing these symptoms should call 911 because paramedics can begin treating a heart attack before the patient arrives at the hospital.

“Symptoms can be life-threatening,” Mauri says. “When you’re in an ambulance, getting treatment early can actually save lives.”

Treating a heart attack early often means you can avoid having more invasive procedures.

“If detected early, it may be treatable with drugs,” Mauri said. “Some treatments may be needed to widen the arteries to the heart.” Patients with blockages in multiple blood vessels may need bypass surgery for treatment.

“The good news is that in many cases, if a heart attack is detected early, treatment is very quick and can lead to a full recovery without a long hospital stay,” Mauri says. “It is not uncommon for people who recover from a heart attack to return to an even healthier lifestyle than before the heart attack.”

defend yourself

Three months before Sharon suffered a heart attack, her father Roger, also a widow, died at the age of 68.

“I was surprised because I didn’t know he had heart problems,” she said. “He truly believes that he still cares about me, so that’s reassuring and helps me cope.”

Sharon has not experienced any other heart problems since undergoing bypass surgery at the end of 2020. She takes her medication and sees a cardiologist as needed. As she reflects on her own heart attack, she wants others to learn from her own experience.

“If you feel something is wrong, I want you to go to the doctor, rely on your body to tell you, and rely on yourself and listen to your body,” she says. “Heart disease does not discriminate.”