Sunday, December 14, 2008

Healthy Hearts



Ladies - please pay attention to your heart!

I was 44 when I had a heart attack and it was the ton of bricks and elephant sitting on my chest type of feeling. (Symptoms more common to a man having a heart attack.) I was immediately rushed to the hospital and thank God, I made it. I'm bringing it to your attention because the Holiday Season is a very stressful time of the year for Superwomen who are trying to play so many roles - mother, grandmother, sister, daughter, friend, cookie-maker.

But more importantly, because a good friend of mine recently had a heart attack. We had been playing telephone tag and when I finally reached Mary, I couldn't believe that just 4 weeks after retiring and 2 weeks after running a half-marathon, she had a heart attack. What is most frightening is that because she had symptoms she described as more flu-like , she put off going to the hospital for several days. By the time she went to the emergency room, the doctors found that she had 4 blocked arteries.

Don't delay--call 911 immediately--if you experience any of the following symptoms :

Pain or discomfort in the center of the chest.

Pain or discomfort in other areas of the upper body, including the arms, back, neck, jaw, or stomach

Other symptoms, such as a shortness of breath, breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea, or light-headedness.

.......and during this Holiday Season -- don't stress yourself out -- if the planning, shopping and cooking gets to be too much -- either do less or ask for help!

For additional info on Women and Heart Attacks, go to http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/actintime/haws/women.htm

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