Thinking About Hearts

Guest Blogger – Allison Lynch St. Germain, Alpha Upsilon, Director of Educational Technologies

How appropriate that it is Valentine’s Day and I’m thinking about hearts. A few weeks ago I thought this blog post would be about relationship health and wellness –I had even done some research on resources to provide our members on healthy relationships – but that all changed pretty quickly after a conversation at pre-school drop off. That morning another mom said, “Hey did you hear the news about Stephanie?” It turns out that the president of the PTA at my son’s school, a woman not much older than me who has children in third grade and kindergarten, was in a coma at the hospital. She had suffered a heart attack suddenly the night before while working at her computer. Wow, I thought. That could have been me, or any number of my other friends in their mid-thirties. I wish the story had a happier ending because despite the doctor’s best efforts, and the multitudes of people pulling and praying for her, Stephanie passed away about a week later. Who knows if the outcome could have been different; Perhaps Stephanie had warning signs of a heart attack, but since warning signs for women are different and less well known than for men, could they have gone unnoticed?

Since that time I’ve done a little research on women’s heart health. You might already be aware that February is Go Red for Women month with the American Cancer Society. And you might have seen this video which Elizabeth Banks directed and stars in called “Just a Little Heart Attack” .

But do you really know the signs that you could be having a heart attack? Do those around you know what a women’s heart attack looks like? My husband certainly didn’t know and I’m glad I shared the following signs of a heart attack from the Go Red website with him:
1. Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest. It lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
2. Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
3. Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
4. Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
5. As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.

Perhaps the biggest take away is to NOT WAIT and call 9-1-1 right away. Even if the sink is full of dishes, laundry piled high on the couch, kids are yelling for attention and your email is dinging away on the phone, all of that can wait but your heart can’t. We all know Delta Zeta sisters who are trying to be superwomen and do it all but haven’t taken the time to care for themselves first. We need to take the time and take care of ourselves, and our hearts, because the alternative, like Stephanie’s family now knows, is too sad to think about.

Oh – and those resources about relationships – don’t worry! We will cover them in a later blog post… but for now – love your heart!