From the Winter 2013 StayHealthy publication
Women share their powerful stories to fight heart disease.
Nearly 10 years ago the American Heart Association created Go Red For Women to dispel the myths and raise awareness of heart disease as the number one killer of women. Today, the initiative uses real life stories from women who are fighting heart disease to educate and empower other women to take charge of their heart health.
Read on to meet three of Porter's amazing and dynamic Ladies in Red. By telling their stories, they hope to challenge others to learn more about heart disease and very importantly, take action to reduce their personal risk.
Stacy
At 41, Stacy Ittersagen thought she was too young for a heart attack. So the Wanatah woman dismissed her ongoing discomfort as indigestion. She assumed her fatigue meant she wasn't sleeping well. "I thought I was doing things right. I was active and taking care of myself, but sometimes I would feel pain just sitting. It felt like a burning, squeezing sensation," she said. When the pain wouldn't subside one day, her husband drove her to the hospital. "I learned that I was at death's door," said Ittersagen. "Not only had I had a heart attack, but I had significant blockages."
Since that day two years ago, Ittersagen has had a triple bypass and a total of 11 stents. "Heart disease didn't run in my family. I wasn't a smoker. I was in good overall health and didn't have signs of heart disease. But my doctor explained that I have really small veins and vessels, which increase my risk. I had no way of knowing, but who would have thought a heart attack at 41?"
Ittersagen has completed Porter's Cardiac Rehab and has learned to better care for her heart by improving her diet and adding walking to her routine, seeking out shopping centers and indoor spaces to get in her steps when it's too chilly to walk outdoors. Plus Cardiac Rehab taught her to recognize the signs of trouble. "I don't ignore problems now. I realize that my heart problems don't just affect me, but also my family and my friends. What I went through was bad, but it was just as hard on them. Now I do all I can to stay healthy- for myself and for them."
Susan
When she retired at age 60, Susan Jaggers turned her attention to her health. "I decided I wanted to take care of me," she said. She attended the renowned Diet and Fitness Center at Duke University to learn the best ways to care for herself. She joined the Life Extension Foundation, the world's largest organization dedicated to finding scientific methods to fight disease and aging. She read books about healthy aging and even chose to go to the same California doctor at the Hall Center who treats actress Suzanne Somers. Jaggers lost weight, exercised regularly, maintained a healthy diet, and was doing great. Or so she thought.
"My doctor recommended that I get a heart scan, because my cholesterol was up and I had a family history of heart disease," said Jaggers. Her scan at Porter revealed excessive plaque and she scheduled a visit with a cardiologist. "He saw me on a Monday and wanted to do the angioplasty right away. Just two days later, during the angioplasty they found blocked arteries. I had emergency heart surgery- a triple bypass. It all just happened boom, boom, boom!" said Jaggers. "I barely averted a heart attack, because I had no symptoms. No shortage of breath. No pain. I didn't lack energy," she said.
Jaggers advises women to get serious about their health, work closely with their doctors, and pay attention to any unusual symptoms. "I thought back and there were times that I didn't feel like finishing my regular routine. Women need to pay attention to anything at all that's unusual." At 66, Jaggers is working her way back to her regular routine. "Everyone was shocked that I had heart disease. If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone," she said.
Penni
Penni Costalunga has always been fit. At 49, she had always been active in sports and exercised at least three days a week- jogging, lifting weights, and doing yoga. But on Easter Sunday as she sat in church with her family, she began feeling ill. "My arms felt numb and there was a weird heaviness throughout my body. I had a dull pain in the center of my chest and I became nauseous," she said. "The pain wasn't horrible and I could have blown it off as the flu, but I said to my husband, 'I think I might be having a heart attack.'"
They calmly drove to Porter where Costalunga's suspicions were confirmed. "I was having a heart attack and I had 90 percent blockage. Within an hour and a half a stent was inserted to open up the artery walls. I learned that if I hadn't reacted, the next time this happened, I would probably have died," she said.
Costalunga was fortunate that she listened to her body and to her family history. "Heart disease is very prevalent in my DNA. I lost my grandparents at 40 and 42 to heart disease. My dad had a triple bypass at 50. I didn't want to play with this," she said. Costalunga recently celebrated her 50th birthday, wiser and healthier. "I was a healthy person, and I was working to do everything right. But my DNA and my stress level were working against me. You can't change your family history, but I have been able to better manage the stress, and I'm feeling really great now."