I do not fit the profile of a typical heart patient — I’m slim, fit, young, and Asian. Yet, just a week after I turned 49, I had a heart attack.

For several weeks before my heart attack, I had felt tightness and pain in my chest and shoulder. I attributed this to stress — I had just moved out of my house after splitting up with my husband and had a very demanding job. On an out-of-town business trip, the pain worsened and I ended up in a hospital emergency room.

Because of my profile, the ER doctor initially dismissed my pain but as it grew more severe, I became more and more persistent. Four ECGs later, I was immediately surrounded by a team of doctors and nurses asking: “Do you have a will?” and “Do you have an advanced directive?” I was shocked. I didn’t think I would have to worry about this at my age. After a grueling period that included two angioplasties and four stents in three arteries, I eventually returned home to where I had an additional surgeries.

Since then, I have learned that many women, myself included, delay in seeking treatment — sometimes it’s because women have atypical symptoms, so they don’t think it’s a heart attack.

Today, I am still on medical leave from my job. I never had a balanced life before but I do now. I know how to slow down, observe, and focus on the “now.” I spend time doing the things I enjoy — immersing myself in classical music and opera and taking Pilates and tai chi. I value friends and family much more.

Safeguarding our health
In our 20s and 30s we often focus on our appearance and weight, or perhaps minor health issues. Seldom do we consider our risks for heart disease. We think it can’t happen to us. But from these stories, we see that it can. When we’re busy with work and our personal lives, we may take our health for granted. Sometimes we neglect our diet or don’t get enough sleep. It’s easy to ignore symptoms of a potentially dangerous illness, because we don’t consider ourselves to be unhealthy. If we are raising families, we may be more concerned with the health of our spouses or children.
 

This triennium, Women of the ELCA launched a new health initiative, “Raising Up Healthy Women and Girls,” to help women be wise stewards of their health and well-being. One thing this initiative will focus on is educating women about heart disease and stroke. The initiative encourages women to pay closer attention to their physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Women of the ELCA also aims to bring greater awareness about the importance of health to young adults, so that they may be empowered at an earlier age to safeguard their health.

In March 2006, Women of the ELCA will introduce a new resource that we hope will help us learn how to talk about health more freely and begin to think about health as a matter of the whole person —body, mind, and spirit. Over the next three years, with continued efforts around this topic, Women of the ELCA and the entire church can begin to educate and inspire women to honor their health and well-being at every age. By honoring our own health, we better participate in creating a healthier church, community, and world.