A Heart Attack? Not Me!

Carole Stansberry is your typical high-powered working girl.

Working full time at Delta Air Lines, she’s also VP of their Women’s Employee Network.

Outside of the office, Stansberry also cares for an ailing husband, her 84 year old father, daughter Heather and the family cat, Tiggy.

And herself? Not so much.

“There was nothing ever wrong with me. I didn’t even have a primary care doctor,” Stansberry recalls.

But, when she booked a cardiologist this fall to speak to Delta’s women about heart disease, the symptoms described sounded all too familiar.

“It dawned on me that yes, I had shortness of breath and tightness in my chest,” says Stansberry. “I just thought I was tired.”

The doc sent her to the office for a standard screening and EKG; she didn’t like what she saw.

“Dr. Gina said if you were my sister I’d advise you to go straight to the hospital for a heart catheterization,” she says, “She wouldn’t even let me drive myself.”

The operation revealed Stansberry had 10 percent Coronary Arterial Disease.

Today, Stansberry has heart disease under control.

She’s modified her diet, exercises regularly and takes mild medication.

“I feel a lot better,” she says “Now I can walk briskly down the airport concourse and still breathe normally!”

Stansberry is not a rarity.

Heart disease affects 43 million women in the U.S., annually.

It’s the No. 1 killer – more deadly than all forms of cancer combined. This video, which has gone viral, will make you laugh, drop a tear or three and remind you of the warning signs associated with heart disease.

The bottom line, according to Stansberry, don’t think it won’t happen to you just because you’re taking care of everything and everyone else.

Bonus PINK Link: Also in recognition of February’s Heart Health Month, find out how one top exec kept going after losing her husband to a heart attack.

Have you gotten your heart checked?

By Cynthia Good

“Healthy equals beautiful.” Victoria Principal