Know Your Family History This Heart Month

Toni is one of Memorial’s outpatient business office representatives and wants to remind everyone to be conscious of their family history during Heart Month!

She reflects, “On September 24, 2014, at the age of 38, I had what I thought was anxiety, but my heart literally had different plans. I started feeling this anxiety while driving to work, but all of a sudden my jaws became very painful and felt as if they were going to lock, then my arms were tingling and going numb. Little did I know this anxiety attack I thought I was having was a Widow Maker (a heart attack that occurs when the left anterior descending artery, which supplies blood to the larger, front part of the heart, is blocked at its origin). Toni was also experiencing two emboli to the right lung and 100% blockage with a blood clot in the circumflex artery.

She was able to receive treatment, in which two stents were placed. She says, “I was healthy! Heart health is very important, especially if there is a family history. For me, this was genetics-related because I was healthy. Please get your heart checked, because you or someone you know may not be so lucky one day.”

Toni reminds everyone to maintain visits to their primary care providers and specialists. “Seven years have passed, and I stay on top of my yearly cardio visits. Please do homework on heart health because it will save your life,” says Toni.