My Ectopic versus His Heart Attack

[Arrrrrrragghhh]

I just wanted to share my thoughts really.
My ectopic nearly killed me. I didn’t know I was pregnant. In fact I only made it by half an hour, according to the surgeon. I had three blood transfusions and had an ovary and Fallopian tube removed.

Husband had a heart attack whilst in hospital. Caused by him being a smoker and a job with late nights and long shifts . He had three stents put in. He gave up smoking straight away and made radical changes to his diet so now really healthy, good blood pressure etc.

Five years on from my brush with mortality no one mentioned it. Five years on from his and everyone asks if he’s feeling ok, had he had any further issues and tells him how well he’s doing. I don’t really mind, it just occurred to me that the difference may be a male/ female one. Nearly dying of a heart attack is just more important than nearly dying because you’re pregnant. I wonder if men got pregnant then people would be asking how they were coping after surgery, how they felt about getting pregnant again and any complications? I know women get heart attacks but it seems very common amongst men of a certain age and almost like a club. Maybe just because it is so common people address it more then?

Ectopic pregnancies kill women all over the world if there is no way to remove the pregnancy surgically. It is as serious and life-threatening as a heart attack and can kill much more quickly because of the massive bleed if the pregnancy is in a fallopian tube and the tube ruptures. If the pregnancy is in the abdomen (also ectopic as it just means not in the uterus) it will kill once the child is big enough to be born, if there is no caesarian available.

Yes I think the last poster summed it up well. Its really that pregnancy, that lovely and most fundamental human condition can kill women even in this day and age. If they don't have access to surgery in ER no amount of first aid or kits can save them.
I do take the point that a heart attack will probably leave you at risk whilst recovering from a ectopic won't.

Well, speaking bluntly your PTSD doesn't present the same risk of sudden death as his heart problem.

How many people have you heard of who died of an ectopic? I mean in developed countries, with access to healthcare? How many do you hear of who died from a heart attack, despite the access to healthcare.

All the cardiologists I’ve seen say stress is the biggest contributory factor to heart disease. It apparently trumps all of the other stuff. And once your arteries have plaques, nothing can remove them, stents can squeeze them and open up the artery,statins can reduce further accumulation and stabilise the plaques already there.

I totally take the point now that people are asking because his risk of a second heart attack is high.

You are all right that not many women ( who are already only 50% of the population and of those it only affects the small proportion that are pregnant) actually die.

Also I guess that having bits removed solves the issue and hysterectomies are well established. Having never being in hospital before it was a bit of a shock.

It just bought it home that if I lived in somewhere like like my parents place in Scotland where the nearest hospital is an hour or so away I wouldn’t have made it.

Thanks for all the comments.