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  5. Heart Attack Personal Stories

Heart Attack Personal Stories

Real patients share their experiences with having a heart attack.  

Melissa Murphy

Melissa Murphy: Enjoying every second of life...while preventing a second heart attack!

Melissa Murphy is a mother, wife, daughter, sister and heart attack survivor. She packs two stents in her right coronary artery due to the effects of birth control and yet didn’t have cardiac risk factors or cardiac disease.

She wants everyone to know - it can happen to you.


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Heart Attack Tools and Resources

  • What Are the Warning Signs of Heart Attack? (PDF)
  • What is a Heart Attack? (PDF)
  • How Will I Recover? (PDF)
  • Heart Attack Discharge Worksheet (PDF)
  • Heart Attack Discharge Worksheet (Spanish) (PDF)
  • 5 Ways to Lower Your Risk of a Second Heart Attack (PDF)
  • 5 Ways to Lower Your Risk of a Second Heart Attack -  Spanish (PDF)
  • Cardiac Rehab Referral Card (PDF)
  • Cardiac Rehab Referral Card (Spanish) (PDF)
  • Common Heart Attack Warning Signs (PDF)

Heart Attack

Heart Attack
  • About Heart Attacks
    • Acute Coronary Syndrome
    • Heart Attack vs Cardiac Arrest
    • Coronary Artery Dissection
    • Ischemic Heart Disease
  • Warning Signs of a Heart Attack
    • Heart Attack Symptoms in Women
  • Angina (Chest Pain)
    • Stable Angina
    • Unstable Angina
    • Prinzmetal Angina
    • Refractory Angina
    • Microvascular Angina
    • Coronary Microvascular Disease
    • Angina in Women vs Men
    • Heartburn or Heart Attack?
  • Understand Your Risks to Prevent a Heart Attack
  • Diagnosing a Heart Attack
    • CAC Test
    • Cardiac Catheterization
    • Cardiac Computed Tomography Angiography (CCTA)
    • Chest X-Ray
    • Coronary Angiogram
    • Echocardiogram (Echo)
    • Electrocardiogram (EKG)
    • Exercise Stress Test
    • Holter Monitor
    • Cardiac MRI
    • Myocardial Perfusion Imaging: PET and SPECT
    • Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
    • Radionuclide Angiography (MUGA Scan)
    • Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT)
    • Tilt-Table Test
    • Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE)
  • Heart Attack Treatment
    • Heart Medications
    • Aspirin and Dual Antiplatelet Therapy
    • Options When Taking Aspirin and Other Antiplatelets
    • Heart Procedures and Surgeries
    • Stents
    • Implantable Medical Devices
  • Life After a Heart Attack
    • Lifestyle Changes to Prevent a Heart Attack
    • Heart Attack Recovery FAQs
  • Heart Attack Tools and Resources

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Heart Attack Recovery Questions and Answers 

*All health/medical information on this website has been reviewed and approved by the American Heart Association, based on scientific research and American Heart Association guidelines. Find more information on our content editorial process.

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