Abstract
Symptoms of acute myocardial infarction may vary and occur with manifold qualities. Due to this reason many patients may misinterpret their subjective perception. One drastic case was documented by a 69 year old patient himself, on his private typewriter starting at December 24, Christmas. Instead of consulting a physician this patient had documented his suffering in a personal diary. He handed his diary to the emergency doctor at the time of his admission. Here we would share the translation of the letter as it was written by the patient. “My stomach reacts to stress immediately and I constantly have some air-burping and swallowing difficulties. So at Christmas Eve, I felt severe oppressive pain behind my breastbone. We have had lots of fatty foods, alcohol and baked goods to eat. Due to the fact that I have had a myocardial infarction 1999 and the fact that I frequently feel angina pectoris in stressful times, I took two tablets of diazepam combined with a small glass of caraway-flavored liquor for relief. All physical complaints disappeared at first. At the third day however, the 26th of December, the pain had increased so badly that I felt like jumping out of the window because of the discomfort. At the same time my belly hardened unbelievably, as if cramping. Mucus moved up to my esophagus, my vocal chords felt coated and my tongue seemed strangely transformed, so white and covered with mucus. It was clear to me, that this was due to my stomach problems. I didn`t eat for the next two days. Furthermore I suffered from excruciating pain in both arms, in my hands and up to my ears.
Citation
Kaufeld T, Fleissner F, Cebotari S, Schmitto J, Kühn C, Mollitoris U, et al. Diary of a Myocardial Infarction: A Case Report. SM J Cardiolog and Cardiovasc Disord. 2018; 4(1): 1023.