It was early, but for a middle school teacher and mother of young children, there's no such thing as sleeping in.
My rise-and-shine kids, Jay, then three years old, and Carolyn, just 12 months, were already eating Cheerios. Otherwise, it felt like a typical crazy holiday weekend – with the added bonus of a visit from the Easter Bunny to our home in downtown Ottawa. Plus, it was my turn to prepare the family feast.
So while my husband, Mike, chatted by webcam with his parents in Newfoundland, I grabbed my "wake-up" cup of coffee and started planning the meal.
7:33 a.m. Start of chest pains
Suddenly, I didn't feel well – and that’s an understatement. In an instant, my rib cage was being squeezed by a vise-like grip that was so intense I felt faint.
The pain in my chest was unlike anything I'd experienced before. I rushed to the living room and collapsed on the couch, holding my chest.
Mike's parents saw me on the webcam and asked if I was feeling OK. I wasn't panicking, and I didn't want anyone else to panic either, so I went up to my bedroom and called Telehealth Ontario. My responses to the nurse's questions were coming out as gasps.
After several agonizing minutes, she told me straight out: "Get to emergency immediately."
I was a fairly healthy person. At 37, I ran marathons, worked out regularly and stuck to a pretty clean diet. I honestly don't think I'd ever been to the emergency room in my life. But I didn't give it another moment's thought – the pain was excruciating.
When I came back downstairs, Mike took one look at me and knew it was bad. He quickly said goodbye to his parents and told the kids we were going to the hospital.
I remember it was very cold that morning, which meant struggling to get Jay and Carolyn into snowsuits. But I was in so much pain, I couldn't help. I hardly had time to think or feel scared.
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