In recognition of September being Atrial Fibrillation Month, EP Lab Digest had the honor of speaking with Mellanie True Hills, who is the CEO of the American Foundation for Women’s Health and StopAfib.org. She is a speaker and author of the award-winning book, A Woman’s Guide to Saving Her Own Life. As an atrial fibrillation survivor, she created StopAfib.org and the Atrial Fibrillation Blog to provide atrial fibrillation patients with information, resources, and support to conquer their atrial fibrillation. StopAfib.org is for patients, by patients.

It was 2003 and I was a road warrior, a consultant for Cisco Systems. A typical week meant being in multiple cities, having marathon meetings and conference calls, and working almost around the clock. I didn’t realize how the stress of travel and the lack of sleep were taking their toll.

I soon became very aware. One evening, as I got off of a plane, I realized that I could barely breathe and my left shoulder ached. I had just read a few days earlier that women have different heart attack symptoms from men, and that women’s symptoms are very subtle and easily missed. I had two of those symptoms.

Was it my heart? Probably not, I thought, as it was very moldy there and I’m sensitive to molds — that probably explained the shortness of breath. As for that left shoulder pain, my new company PC was heavier than the old one, and it was hanging from my shoulder (wheeled computer bags weren’t yet common). I figured I was OK, and since it was late, I went on to the hotel and left a message for my doctor.

When she returned my call the next morning, she felt that it was probably nothing serious, but we made an appointment for me to get checked as soon as I got home.

At the appointment, we both felt that it was probably just molds affecting my breathing, but she did an EKG anyway and found it to be abnormal. She insisted that I go straight to the emergency room and get someone to drive me.

On the way to the emergency room, I was scared and my blood pressure spiked. At the ER, I was rushed back to the Trauma Center and treated for a heart attack. I remember the doctors and nurses rushing around like mice in a maze. It was frightening.

Luckily, it wasn’t a heart attack. However, a catheterization indicated that I had a 95% blockage in the left anterior descending artery and had probably been just minutes from having a heart attack.

The interventional cardiologist did an emergency balloon angioplasty and a stent. He found that the blockage was at a difficult juncture, and he could barely place the stent. I almost died of a massive heart attack.

Fortunately, I got a second chance. I knew that there was something that I was supposed to do with it, but I wasn’t sure what. At the time, most women didn’t know that heart disease was the #1 killer of women, and that stroke was our #3 killer. No one was talking about that, so I decided it might as well be me.

I got myself and my health back under control, including losing 85 pounds, and then left my road warrior job to help women avoid what I had been through and make the changes that could save their lives. To help guide women in making those changes, I wrote a book, A Woman’s Guide to Saving Her Own Life, which went on to win multiple awards.