A mother-of-two who survived lung cancer has revealed how she nearly died after mistaking a heart attack for heartburn as she tried to exercise the pain away.
Reena Caprario, 55, who battled lung cancer in late 2023 and has a history of diabetes, ignored the warning signs for a week, convinced her symptoms were simply acid reflux from her recent surgery.
But the pain continued to intensify. What started as a little back pain and acid reflux quickly spread to her neck, jaw and upper arm within a week.
Despite having a family history of heart disease and being a former smoker, Caprario refused to believe she was having a cardiac episode – even after the pain became so severe her hand went numb and her jaw felt like she had ‘dozens of toothaches.’
Instead of immediately seeking medical care, she attempted to sooth the pain at home – turning to activities like going to the mall with her daughter, or running up and down the stairs, as reported by CBS News.
‘Google became my doctor for a moment, and I was like “OK, I may have all these symptoms, but I’m just not having a heart attack”,’ Caprario told CBS News. ‘I kept saying to myself ‘There’s no way.”
When Caprario eventually went to her primary care physician, she got an EKG that shocked doctors.
Doctors soon discovered her left circumflex artery was 99 percent blocked, with a piece of detached plaque almost completely stopping blood flow to her heart. She had also had a heart attack.
‘They told my family I was lucky to be alive,’ Caprario revealed to the outlet.
Reena Caprario, 55, who battled lung cancer in late 2023 and has a history of diabetes, ignored the warning signs for a week, convinced her symptoms were simply acid reflux from her recent surgery
Despite having a family history of heart disease and being a former smoker, Caprario (left, next to husband) refused to believe she was having a cardiac episode – even after the pain became so severe her hand went numb and her jaw felt like she had ‘dozens of toothaches’
Dr. Harmony Reynolds, director of NYU Langone Heart’s Sarah Ross Soter Center for Women’s Cardiovascular Research, warned that heart attacks often don’t match their dramatic TV portrayals.
‘The heart muscle will feel that, and it will send up a signal,’ Reynolds explained. ‘It might not even be painful.’
‘There might just be a sense of being uncomfortable, and that will usually localize to the chest, but it doesn’t have to,’ she continued.
She told CBS News that pain ‘anywhere between the jaw and the belly button’ could be a sign of a heart attack.
Dr. Linus Wodi, the AdventHealth cardiologist who saved Caprario’s life, said the particular artery blockage was especially dangerous, with a ‘high likelihood of fatality.’
In a life-saving procedure, doctors cleared the blockage and inserted a stent without anesthesia.
Caprario was remarkably discharged the next morning.
When Caprario (pictured left with husband) eventually went to her primary care physician, she got an EKG that shocked doctors. Her left circumflex artery was 99 percent blocked, with a piece of detached plaque almost completely stopping blood flow to her heart
The particular artery blockage was especially dangerous, with a ‘high likelihood of fatality’ (Caprario pictured with family)
Now, after completing a 12-week cardiac rehabilitation program, she said she feels ‘better than ever’ and is back to enjoying athletic activities with her family.
‘I don’t even feel like I had a heart attack,’ she admitted.
Doctors warn that heart attack symptoms can include chest pain or pressure, pain in the jaw, neck, or upper arm, acid reflux, nausea, shortness of breath, sweating, dizziness, and a sense of impending doom.
