Go Red

I'm a big supporter of Women's Heart Health. This is a cause I feel very strongly about.  I promote it every chance I get. I drilled it into my children and grandchildren. My grandson was probably the only kindergarten child who went to school promoting 'wear red' to his teacher.

My mother died of a heart attack at the age of 48.  11 months later her first grandchild was born. My children grew up without a grandmother.

They know their grandmother. I kept pictures - I talked about her - I shared stories. My grandchildren know of their great-grandma. I've shared pictures and stories of her to them.

Stories and pictures don't take the place of a real grandma.

     This is a picture of mom and me.  

She would have loved having grandchildren.  Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.

Know the signs of a heart attack in women. They aren't the same as for men.  Shortness of breath - back pain - jaw pain - nausea - trust your gut! 

This is my mother-in-law.  She had heart bypass surgery in 1997. She knows the symptoms - she sees her doctor regularly. She has stress tests, etc. Last July after having an angio gram she did not feel well. She thought she was having indigestion but it did not go away. She kept calling and calling her doctor. She finally sent his wife a message on Facebook and the very next day she had an appointment with her doctor.

After two weeks of 'indigestion' she was admitted to the hospital and tests were run. Sure enough she had had a heart attack. A few days later - surgery to put in two back-to-back stents and she was on the mend. (This is really a very simplified version of the issue but I think you get the idea.)



Don't ignore these.  If something doesn't seem right - see your doctor. Better safe than sorry.

I want to encourage everyone to wear red this Friday, February 6, 2015 to show your support of women's heart health.  I'd love to see pictures of you wearing your red.