A Message from the Heart
Susan Turner wants every woman to know that ‘if you think something is wrong with your heart, pursue it'
Thumbing through a magazine a few years ago, Susan Turner of Keswick came across stories about women in their 50s, 40s, even 30s with heart problems. Like so many women, she thought, "That could never happen to me."
At age 41, the mother of two stayed busy with school activities- directing the 5th-grade chorus, serving as PTO president, helping out with musicals and the swim team. She didn't smoke and, with sporadic bursts of exercise, she kept her weight under 150 pounds. She had high cholesterol that ran in her family and admits she and her family ate red meat more than they should. Otherwise, she considered herself healthy.
But on a Labor Day weekend, she woke in the middle of the night with her heart racing. A few weeks later, terrible pains ran across her jaw and down her neck and chest. Each time, she went to the ER and, each time, cardiac tests came back normal. Doctors ruled out a heart attack, but Turner knew her heart wasn't right. To find the answer, she came to the University of Virginia Health System. A UVa cardiologist recommended a catheterization procedure, which uncovered 70-percent blockage in one of her heart arteries. Doctors later uncovered smaller blockages in two other arteries. A stent helped clear the first blockage and medication helped shrink the others. UVa cardiologist Coleen McNamara, M.D., keeps a watchful eye on Turner to make sure she is getting the medication right for her.
"At least once a year, anyone who's had heart problems or is at risk," McNamara says, "should see a cardiologist even if they are not having symptoms. The cardiologist's job is to stay on the cutting edge of new research in the field. They can tell you what you should be doing to reduce your risk of future heart problems and whether the latest research advances in cardiovascular disease apply to you."
Without a stent and close monitoring by heart specialists, Turner likely would have become one of the thousands of women who suffer a heart attack each year. Many women don't recognize the signs of heart disease because they often don't experience classic symptoms, and, in women especially, cardiac tests don't always uncover a problem. New findings reveal that, in women, blockages often occur in vessels too small to be seen with standard diagnostic tests.
"I want to tell every woman now, ‘If you think something is wrong, pursue it.'"
When Turner looks back on her life, she sees clearly how it led to a near heart attack. "I never took time for me. Now I walk and try to get in a cardio workout every day." Still, she admits, she struggles to maintain her ideal weight, especially since going back to work. She's determined, though, to be an example to her family; her husband eats better now and her 15-year-old son, who inherited the family's high cholesterol, sometimes walks with her and plays sports.
"Even though it was a horrible experience," Turner says, "it's all had a positive effect on my entire family. And If I can help one person with my story, that would be wonderful."
Stopping the Damage
When a heart attack strikes, timing is everything. Getting to a hospital quickly is key. It's also important that once at the hospital, you quickly get to a catheterization lab. This is where doctors open up the blocked artery by inserting a balloon. Under 90 minutes is the typical time it takes for a patient to go from the emergency door at the University of Virginia Health System to having a balloon inserted to halt the damage to the heart.
"The standard time is 120 minutes but reducing this to 90 minutes means less damage to the patient's heart," says Michael Ragosta, M.D., director of UVa's Cardiac Catheterization Lab. "At UVa, we have a whole team that mobilizes quickly, even before the patient arrives, so we can stop the damage to the heart as soon as possible. And because we closely track all of our processes, we are always getting better and faster at treating patients who have heart attacks." What's more, UVa is able to offer 24/7 backup from heart surgeons in case a rare, but potentially deadly, complication occurs during a cath procedure.
Is It a Heart Attack?
When a patient with chest pain arrives at UVa, their first stop is the Chest Pain Center-the Charlottesville region's only facility to be nationally accredited by the Society of Chest Pain Centers. Chris Ghaemmaghami, M.D., the center's medical director, says the accreditation is a reflection of a dedicated, close-knit team of emergency nurses with special training in cardiac care, along with emergency medicine and cardiology doctors. "We can quickly sort out dangerous heart attacks from non-cardiac chest pain, which is a very common complaint," Ghaemmaghami says. "We can reassure you quickly if you're not having a cardiac issue. Or we can put you in touch with the UVa Heart and Vascular Center for follow-up testing to determine whether a cardiac problem is causing the pain."