Susan Turner; Cherie Chaney, R.N., BSN, practice nurse; Dr. Elizabeth Le, M.D. (left to right).

March 1, 2004

Thumbing through a magazine last summer, Susan Turner of Keswick came across stories about women in their 50s, 40s and even 30s with heart problems. Like so many women, she thought, “That could never happen to me.”

A few weeks later, she would learn that it could.

At 41, the mother of two stayed busy with school activities – directing the 5th-grade chorus, serving as PTO president, helping out with musicals and the swim team. She didn’t smoke and with sporadic bursts of exercise she kept her weight under 150 pounds. She had high cholesterol that ran in her family and admits she and her family ate out – and red meat – more than they should. Still, she considered herself healthy.

But last Labor Day weekend, she woke in the middle of the night with a racing heartbeat that scared her enough to go to the ER. Over the next few weeks, she would continue to have bouts of chest pain. Her family doctor put her on medication to lower her high blood pressure and cholesterol and ordered a battery of cardiac tests. Although her tests all came back normal, Turner felt her heart wasn’t OK, especially since her father had had heart problems. She decided to see Elizabeth Le, M.D., a UVa heart specialist. Dr. Le said Turner’s doctor did all the right things by ordering tests and putting her on medication. But because Turner was having frequent bouts of chest pain, Dr. Le suggested Turner take the next step and have a more invasive procedure - a catheterization procedure to learn whether her chest pain was causedby a blocked artery that supplies blood to the heart. During the procedure, doctors found 70 percent blockage in a main artery and decided to open up the area and keep it clear with a stent.

One of the lucky ones

Without the catheterization, Turner’s coronary heart disease might not have been diagnosed, and she could have been among the 1-in-3 American women who die from heart disease. Medical tests don’t always uncover heart problems in women. Many women don’t recognize heart disease, which in women often doesn’t show classic symptoms.

“To all of my friends I use me as an example,” Turner says. “My gut was telling me that something was wrong but everybody was telling me it wasn’t. I want to tell every woman now, ‘If you think something is wrong, pursue it.’”

A heart-healthy life

When Turner looks back on her life, she sees how it led to a near heart attack. “I never took time for me. I always put me off. Now I walkforty minutes every day. Three times a week I’m on a treadmill, rower, arm bike and reclining bike. I eat fish two or three times a week and lots of fruits and vegetables. No more potato chips and I haven’t had a hamburger in three months.”

And while she can’t control that her 12-year-old son inherited her family’s history of high cholesterol, she can pass on a healthy lifestyle. “My son walks with me and works out with me on weekends.”

Even though it was a frightening experience, “it’s all had a positive effect on my entire family,” she says. “And If I can help one person with my story, that would be wonderful.