Last summer (June 2023) I had a health scare. I use the word scare, because it could have been SOOO much worse. Of course, in hindsight, I wasn't taking care of me - prioritizing my health/well-being - lesson learned! {insert well published health stat}
Heart disease is THE LEADING cause of death among women of ALL AGES in the US… (let that sink in)
My story… I was returning from taking my son out to grab dinner around 7:45 at night. As I pulled in the driveway, I had a weird pain (which I kind of dismissed as gas initially) - that eventually made both of my wrists ache a bit. Over the next five minutes I contemplated what I should do since this pain seemed intense. My husband was quarantined in our guest room (covid) and asleep, so I jumped in the car to run to urgent care "just in case". I ended up at the neighborhood ER that immediately jumped on protocol - an EKG and blood work. By this time I was starting to feel kind of silly - as the pain had long disappeared and thought I was wasting the doctors valuable time. First bloodwork check in - nothing too alarming - but I had to wait for the second results an hour later. "You'll probably get to go home after I review those….(famous last words)." When he came back an hour later I was informed that I'd be taking my first ever ambulance ride to the actual hospital - yep! My cardiac enzymes were elevated/continuing to elevate - even though I was in NO pain or distress.
The next morning, the cardiologist ran another test or two (echocardiogram) - and still nothing. When he came in to talk to me that day, he said - "well, I don’t see anything, you have no pre-existing health issues…. BUT, what concerns me is that you have heart disease on BOTH sides of your family." He wanted to do ONE more thing before he was willing to send me home - a cardiac catheter. So on Monday morning, they wheeled me in, and inserted the little camera into my wrist to 'take a look' - by the way - I was fully awake during this and could see what was happening on the 9 screen wall next to me. And, that is when he found what he was looking for - the cause of the "pain" from Saturday evening - an 80% blockage in the left anterior descending artery - aka "widow maker". Again, for those of you in the back - I REPEAT - I felt FINE (outside of the 3-5 mins of weird pain Saturday evening) before and throughout my stay at the hospital. FINE, as in, I might have ignored that little pain that went away as fast as it came. The result of doing that could have been TRAGIC - my kids would have no mom, my husband would be the "widow" and my parents/family/friends…etc. You get the point! I am fortunate to have the opportunity to tell my story AND to make the changes necessary to create a healthier me!!
I share this (publicly) because I believe KNOWLEDGE really is power. And, to this point, my team at work will be competing in a fund raising campaign this year to support the American Heart Association. Our goal is $25k (go BIG or go home, right?!). We will be doing an extra special celebration in November - walking w/ my Pega colleagues in Washington DC to celebrate the AHA's 100th anniversary.
My ASK: Please consider donating to our team cause. Donate in honor of someone you've lost to heart disease, or because you've experienced it yourself - whether $1 or more - every penny will support the work that the AHA does to empower women and men about heart disease - prevention and recovery. (THANKS for your support and consideration)
