Later this month, a very special Richmond mom will be a guest speaker at the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Richmond luncheon – something she never in a million years would have predicted. Sara Marlow Dye, an active young mother to two young sons, a regular at the gym with low blood pressure and normal cholesterol and no family history of heart disease, is a heart attack survivor.
When Sara started experiencing nausea and chest pressure on a normal evening at home with her family, she assumed it was nothing major. She toughed it out through the night, and when the morning came without relief, she went to an urgent care clinic to treat what she thought must be a stomach bug. But when an electrocardiogram (EKG) came back abnormal, she found herself being transported to Southside Regional Medical Center in Petersburg where blood tests confirmed that she had in fact had a heart attack. At 31 years old.
With a 97% blockage in her left main artery, Sara was in a dire state. But a complication called cardiac vasospasm that caused her arteries to suddenly tighten meant she was not a candidate for surgery. Instead, she received a stent to open the blocked artery and began a long journey of cardiac rehabilitation.
Now, 3 years later, Sara is back at work at teaching children with learning disabilities at Winterpock Elementary in Chesterfield and mothering her two young boys while her husband, a major in the Army, is serving in Afghanistan through June. She wants to share her story with the rest of us – to drive home the important message that heart disease can happen to anyone and that we must prioritize our heart health. She’ll get the chance to spread her message, one we all should receive loud and clear, at Richmond’s Go Red For Women Luncheon at the Jefferson Hotel on Feb. 17, 2012.
To learn about the warning signs of heart attack and stroke in women, and for tips on how you can get heart healthy, visit www.GoRedForWomen.org.
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