Wakisha Stewart: Episode Link

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On this episode, we speak with with Keisha Stewart, author of the book ‘Sonata for a Damaged Heart, a Young Mother’s Journey of Survival After a Near Fatal Heart Attack.’ Keisha shares her personal experience of suffering from a spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) and having a heart attack at the age of 31, just two weeks after giving birth to her second child. She discusses the lack of awareness about heart attacks in women, especially during the postpartum period, and the biases and stereotypes that women, particularly women of color, face in the medical field. Keisha emphasizes the importance of women advocating for their own health and seeking second opinions. She also talks about her involvement in the American Heart Association’s Reclaim Your Rhythm campaign, which aims to raise awareness about heart disease in women. The interview highlights the need for women to prioritize their health and listen to their bodies.

TRANSCRIPT:

Welcome  back  to  How  Flashes  and  Cool  Topics.  Today  we  have  on  Keisha  Stewart  and  Keisha’s  book  has  just  launched.  It’s  called  “Sonata  for  a  Damaged  Heart,  a  Young  Mother’s  Journey  of  Survival  After  a  Near  Fatal  Heart  Attack.”  And  listening  to  your  story, it  really  sent  chills  down  my  spine  and  I’m  sure  Bridget’s  because  it’s  just  something  that  you  don’t  hear  that  often  about,  but  women  need  to  know  more  about.  about  our  heart  health.
So  welcome  to  the  show,  Kisha.  – Thank  you  so  much.  Thank  you  for  having  me.  Thank  you  for  giving  me  this  opportunity  to  spread  a  little  bit  of  awareness  and  to  speak  about  my  book  because  you’re  right.
So  many  women  need  to  know  and  so  many  women  don’t.  – Yes,  it’s  amazing.  Reading  your  book,  you  know,  you  were  so  young  when  this…  incident  happened  to  you.
Can  you  share?  I  know  we  don’t  have  all  the  time  to  share,  but  a  little  bit  briefly,  what  happened  to  you  and  what  SCAD  is?  – Yes,  so  SCAD  stands  for  Spontaneous  Coronary  Artery  Dissection.
So  in  layman’s  terms,  an  artery  in  my  heart  actually  tore.  There’s  different  degrees  of  SCAD.  Some  women  have  a  slight  tear,  which…  which  is  able  to  heal  just  by  medication  and  rest,
while  others,  unfortunately,  can  go  into  cardiac  arrest  and  pass  away  from  it,  or  have  a  heart  attack  from  it,  which  is  what  happened  to  me.  Usually  it  affects  women.
I  think  roughly  about  90 %  of  cases  are  in  women.  However,  men  can  be  affected  as  well.  It  usually  hits  women  who  are…  are  in  that  area  of  their  life  when  they’re  getting  ready  to  have  kids  or  going  into  perimenopause,
menopause,  where  hormones  fluctuate  a  lot.  So  in  my  case,  when  I  was  31,  back  in  2011,  two  weeks  after  I  gave  birth  to  my  second  child  and  it  was  a  normal  pregnancy,
pregnancy  other  than  the  fact  that  I  had  gestational  diabetes  and  he  was  big.  So  two  weeks  out,  we  went  to  a  friend’s  house  for  a  dinner  party  and  that  particular  day  I  was  feeling  a  little  more  fatigued  than  usual  but  I  was  taking  care  of  a  newborn  and  I  have  at  the  time  a  five  year  old  son.
So  it’s  not  out  of  the  realm  of  possibility  that  I’m  going  to  give  birth  to  my  second  child.  going  to  be  tired.  I  went  to  the  party  along  with  my  husband  having  a  good  time  still  feeling  overly  fatigued  and  then  started  feeling  a  little  disoriented.
I  couldn’t  really  see  straight  it  was  hard  for  me  to  focus  on  conversation  and  then  I  felt  really  hot  pants  getting  clammy.  I  went  to  the  bathroom  splashed  water  on  my  face.
figured  okay,  maybe,  you  know,  something’s  going  on,  but  not  anything  to  be  too  concerned  about.  Then  I  went  back  and  when  I  sat  down  almost  immediately,
I  had  that  sharp  pain  in  my  chest  and  then  that  tingling  down  the  left  arm,  pain  radiating  to  the  back  of  my  neck  up  into  my  jaw.
And  that’s  when  I  said,  well,  this  song  something  is  terribly  wrong.  Didn’t  suspect  that  it  was  a  heart  attack  at  that  time,  because  even  with  me  being  a  nursing  assistant,
I  had  been  an  athlete  my  whole  life.  I  didn’t  know  that  women  had  heart  attacks,  or  susceptible  to  having  heart  attacks,  and  their  postpartum  period.
But  at  the  time,  I  told  my  husband  I  couldn’t  breathe.  It  felt  like  my  chest  was  just  being  crushed.  crushed  like  it  was  in  a  vice.  And  I  said,  you  know,  we  have  to  leave.
He,  of  course,  joked  around  and  asked  me  if  I  had  too  much  wine.  I  said,  no,  I  wish,  but  no.  And  we  rushed  to  the  hospital  all  the  while.
I  was  still  feeling  that  crushing  pain  in  the  chest.  I  was  getting  nauseated  and  then  eventually  vomiting  got  to  the  hospital.  my  husband  wheeled  me  in.
I  told  the  receptionist  everything  that  I  had  been  feeling,  first  and  foremost,  chest  pain.  And  she  kind  of  looked  at  me,  asked  me,  oh,  well,  what  were  you  doing  prior?
And  I  told  her,  oh,  I  was  out  at  a  dinner  party  for  the  first  time  since  having  my  son.  And  she  began  to  tell  me  that,  oh,  it’s  anxiety  or  panic  attack.
You’ll  be  fine.  And  because  I  knew  myself  and  because  I  knew  how  my  body  reacted  to  different  stressors,  I  knew  it  wasn’t  anxiety.
I  knew  it  wasn’t  a  panic  attack.  So  I  told  her,  no,  I  want  to  be  seen.  I’m  going  to  stay  and  wait.  And  she  kind  of  rolled  her  eyes  and  said,  all  right,  you  can  just  go  into  the  waiting  room  right  there  and  you’ll  be  called  back.
And  it’s  not  a  panic  attack.  It’s  not  a  panic  attack.  took  about  30  minutes  before  I  actually  got  called  back.  So  when  I  finally  went  into  triage,  they  couldn’t  understand  what  was  happening  to  me.
They  didn’t  know  why  my  EKG  was  kind  of  inconclusive,  but  it’s  because  of  the  type  of  heart  attack  that  I  was  having  unbeknownst  to  anyone  at  the  time.  A  more  senior  nurse  for  whatever  whatever  reason  walked  by  and  she  took  two  seconds  and  said  she’s  having  a  heart  attack  and  then  instantly  it  clicked.
Everything  that  I  knew  about  heart  attacks,  it  really  was  happening  to  me.  Everything  was  kind  of  a  blur.  They  rushed  me  into  the  back.  They  tried  to  give  me  all  the  standard  things  that  they  give  you,
morphine,  oxygen,  all  of  that.  all  nitro,  all  those  things  to  try  to  alleviate  the  amount  of  pain  that  I  was  in  and  nothing  worked.  So  I  had  to  be  rushed  to  another  hospital.  Eventually  the  cardiologist  that  worked  on  me  and  saved  my  life,
he  placed  a  stent.  And  that’s  when  I  found  out  that  I  had  a  scad,  which  caused  my  widow  maker  heart  attack,  which  only  one  in  four  normally  survive.
And…  And  from  that  moment  on,  it’s  just,  it’s  been  a  whirlwinds,  even  12  and  a  half  years  later.
And  I  just  remember  feeling  so  alone  and  isolated  and  thinking,  why,  why  did  this  happen?  Why  didn’t  I  know  that  it  could  happen?  And,
you  know,  why  are  more  people  not  aware?  [BLANK _AUDIO]  There  are  so  many  questions  that  I  have  for  you  in  your  experience.  And,  you  know,  your  story  is  one  where  you  were  just  very  lucky  that  a  woman,
senior  nurse  walked  in  and  said,  she’s  having  a  heart  attack  because  there  are  so  many  people  that  don’t  get  that  one  person  who  like  light  bulb  moment  goes  off.  But  you  were  a  nursing  assistant  and  I  think  it’s  really  important  for  women  listening  to  this  person.
podcast,  understand  that  women  don’t  always  have  the  typical  feeling  like  you  did  have  the  chest  pains,  you  did  have  the  radiating  feeling  down  your  left  arm.  But  for  some  women,
it  could  be  back  pain.  Can  you  talk  a  little  bit  about  how  the  symptoms  aren’t  always  the  same  for  men  and  women?  Right.  So  men  have,  you  know,  those  typical  clutching  of  the  chest  because  they  have  that  sharp  pain  and  they  have…
the  tingling  that’s  those  main  things  happen  to  men  but  with  women  like  you  said  it’s  very  different  it  could  be  a  headache  it  could  be  a  backache  it  could  be  you  know  just  tension  and  pain  in  your  shoulders  in  your  jaw  it  doesn’t  necessarily  have  to  include  that  chest  pain  and  I’m  not  saying  every  single  ache  and  pain  is  a  heart  attack  what  I  want  people  to  understand  is  when  you  put  things  together,
you  need  to  get  yourself  checked  because  you’d  rather  be  safe  than  sorry.  Also,  women  could  experience  indigestion,  heartburn.  Those  are  other  indicators  that  could  mean  something  is  happening.
So  it’s  very,  very  important.  And  I  know  for  me,  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  understand.  understand  my  body  so  it’s  really  important  for  women  particularly  to  understand  what  their  body  is  going  through  and  to  listen,
listen  to  your  body  because  your  body  will  give  you  clues  as  to  if  there’s  a  problem.  Yes  and  you  know  another  thing  that  you  bring  up  in  the  book  that  has  brought  up  so  much  is  you  went  into  that  emergency  room  with  with  chest  pain.
told  you  had  a  panic  attack,  told  to  wait  30  minutes,  and  I  have  a  sister  that’s  a  nurse  that  always  says  if  you  go  in  for  any  reason,  tell  them  you’re  having  chest  pains,
but  you  were  sent  to  wait,  and  I  know  for  women  of  color,  for  women,  how  they  are  treated  so  differently  than  men.  Can  you  share,  I  know  in  your  book  you  share  some  of  the  statistics,
but  can  you  share  how  this  happens?  to  women  and  particularly  women  of  color?  – Yeah,  unfortunately,  women  are  seen  as  being  dramatic.  So  sometimes  we’ll  be  say  something  is  wrong.
Oftentimes  we’re  dismissed,  unfortunately,  because  we’re  not  as  dramatic  as  men  are  when  we’re  sick.  But  I  mean,
in  all  seriousness,  women  wait.  30 %  longer  when  they’re  having  some  sort  of  heart -related  issue  to  actually  get  checked.  And  then  when  they  finally  get  to  the  hospital,
they’re  treated,  it  takes  20 %  longer  for  them  to  receive  any  kind  of  treatment,  anything  that’s  a  baby  aspirin,  even  to  just  be  seen,
anything  at  all.  So  it’s  really  unfortunate.  And  I  think,  think  a  lot  of  times  it’s  because  we  have  this  assumption  that  women  are  dramatic  or  women  can  shoulder  so  much.
And  with  Black  women,  Hispanic  women  especially,  we’re  seen  as  being  loud  or,  you  know,  overly  dramatic.  And  we’re  also  seen  as  being  able  to  handle  pain  better  than,
you  know,  a  white  woman,  which  isn’t  true.  I  know  people  of  all  walks  of  life  who  some  can  handle  it  and  some  cannot,  male  and  female.  So  really,
one  of  the  reasons  why  I  wrote  the  book  was  to  kind  of  address  this  bias  that  people  in  the  medical  field  do  have.  And  I  remember  when  I  went  back  to  nursing  school  after  my  heart  attack,
I  remember  being  taught  these  things.  things.  I  remember  my  professor  saying,  you  can’t  have  these.  These  are  the  stereotypes.  This  is  wrong.  And  yet  still  within  society,
within  the  medical  arena,  you  still  find,  unfortunately,  people  just  dismissing  us.  I’ve  even  had  a  psych  consult  called  on  me  once  a  few  years  after,
because  I  went–  back  to  the  hospital  with  chest  pain,  having  had  a  history  of  a  heart  attack.  And  they  just  thought  I  was  crazy.  And  I  said,
no,  I’m  not  crazy.  I  know  myself.  Stop  and  listen.  And  until  we  all  can  understand  what  really  is  happening,  and  all  of  us  get  united  and  fight  for  it,
people  just  aren’t  going  to  listen,  unfortunately.  – Also,  you  talk  about  the,  I’m  just  gonna  say  PTSD,  but  the  trauma  afterwards,
because  that’s  very  relatable.  People  don’t  really  talk  about  the  fact  that  after  you’ve  gone  through  such  a  traumatic  event,  you  have  to  jump  back  into  life.  And  for  you,  you  had  two  small  children.  What  was  that  experience  like  for  you?
– I  remember  being  in  the  hospital  recovering  and  an  older  gentleman  came  in  and  he  tried  to  give  me  something  for  a  support  group.
Well,  people  in  the  support  group,  they  already  lived  their  life,  no  offense  to  them  or  anything,  but  they  were  in  their  senior  years  and  I  was  just  starting.
So  there  was  nothing  that  I  could  relate  to.  to  with  them.  I  felt  very  alone,  I  felt  very  isolated,  because  no  matter  where  I  went,
even  when  I  went  to  the  doctor’s  office,  I  was  always  the  youngest  person  in  the  room.  And  that’s  difficult  because  human  nature,  we  want  to  connect,
we  want  that  camaraderie,  we  want  someone  who  understands  what  we’re  going  through  to  help  us.  get  through  it.  And  I  didn’t  have  that.  And  I  had  to  kind  of  push  certain  feelings  down  because  so  many  people  expected  me  to  be  a  certain  way.
Because  visually,  you  don’t  see  that  I  have  heart -related  issues.  People  think  you’re  okay.  And  including  family  and  friends,  you  know,  they  say,  well,  I  don’t  understand,
you  look  fine.  Well,  yeah,  I  know  you’re  fine.  fine,  but  inside,  I’m  still  healing.  And  you  start  to  kind  of  remove  yourself  and  go  deeper  within  yourself  because  no  one,
or  you  feel  like  no  one  understands.  So  it  was  very  difficult  to  kind  of,  on  the  one  hand,  need  people,  but  then  on  the  other  hand,
feel  like  you  can’t  rely  on  anyone  or  open  yourself.  yourself  up  because  of  judgment,  because  of  expectations,  whatever  the  case  may  be.  It  took  a  long  time  for  me  to  get  it  back  and  try  to  balance  everything.
It  wasn’t  easy.  It’s  not  easy  at  all.  And  I  had  tremendous  PTSD.  I  had  to  seek  medication  for  it  because  when  you’re  living  or  at  the  time,
I  was  scared  to  live.  My  heart  attack  happened  during  one  of  the  happiest  times  of  my  life.  And  so  in  my  mind,
I  just  kept  thinking  if  it  can  happen  when  I’m  happy,  well,  it’s  just  going  to  happen  again  at  any  point  in  time.  So  I’d  rather  not  do  anything  else.  at  all.  Eventually,
my  husband  just  kept  saying,  you  can’t  live  like  this.  Where’s  the  old  Keisha?  And  I  cried  because  I  knew  that  the  old  Keisha  was  gone.
I  had  to  mourn  her.  And  I  couldn’t  move  forward  until  I  recognized  that.  And  I  couldn’t  move  forward  until  I  recognized  that.  I  accepted  the  fact  that  it  really  happened.
This  is  something  that’s  a  part  of  my  life  now  and  I  have  a  new  normal  that  I  have  to  create  for  myself.  I’m  very  fortunate  to  have  my  husband  and  family  that  were  able  to  support  me,
but  it  was  a  very  long  road,  an  extremely  long  road.  And  I  just  figured  one  day  that…  I  am  doing  or  it’s  such  a  travesty  for  me  not  to  live  when  so  many  people  before  me  didn’t  get  the  second  chance  that  I  got.
So  yeah  I  just  felt  like  your  book  too.  I  think  that’s  so  important  for  people  to  read  because  you  don’t  hear  a  lot  about  this  situation  or  the  women  that  die  or  how  how  really  scary  giving  birth  can  be.
be,  especially  post  giving  birth.  And  one  thing  I  feel  like  a  message  in  your  book  is  that  you  really  give  women  a  voice  to  advocate,  be  an  add  be  your  own  medical  advocate  in  that  situation  can  he  I  mean  for  you  you  share  in  your  book,
you  know  how  long  it  did  take  you  through  certain  points  and  how  frustrating  that  being  up.  I’m  amazed  when  I  read  it,  just  how,
what’s  something  you  would  tell  a  woman  that  really  needs  to  hear  that  you  need  to  be  an  advocate  even  when  you  feel  like  everything  is  going  against  you?  – So  on  my  website,
actually,  I  have  this  phrase  that  I  came  up  with  when  I  did  a  speech.  It  says,  be  dramatic.  No  one  will  fight  harder  for  your  life  than  you,  which  is…  is  true.
If  people  want  to  assume  that  women  are  dramatic,  let’s  show  them  what  dramatic  really  is,  because  I  can  really  be  that  dramatic.  And  when  it  comes  to  saving  your  life,
that’s  what  you  have  to  do.  You  have  to  take  control  and  you  have  to  fight,  but  you  also  have  to  educate  yourself  enough  so  that  way  you  have  confidence  in  the  words.
in  your  voice,  so  that  you  can  be  heard.  And  don’t  stop  until  you  are  heard.  That  is  extremely  important.  – So  in  2022,  you  were  selected  by  the  American  Heart  Association  to  be  one  of  12  spokeswomen  advocating  for  women’s  heart  health  in  their  Reclaim  Your  Rhythm  campaign.
How  did  that  come  about?  And  what  is  the  campaign  like  specific?  Obviously,  it’s  hard.  health,  but  can  you  tell  us  about  the  campaign  as  well?  – Yeah,  sure.  So  Go  Red  for  Women  is  a  part  of  the  American  Heart  Association  and  their  goal  is  basically  to  bring  about  awareness  for  heart  disease  in  women,
whether  it  be  raising  money  for  research,  advances  in  technology,  more  educational  things  to  be  put  out  to  different  people.
communities  or  even  holding  events  where  we’re  checking  blood  pressures  or  giving  people  information  on  where  to  go  to  get  your  blood  pressure  checked  or  diet  and  exercise  and  all  that.
So  in  2022,  I  was  selected.  I  had  to  submit  a  video  prior  to  and  it  just  so  happened  that  that  particular  year  everything  kind  of  came  together  for  me.
and  I  was  selected.  I  had  submitted  something  a  year  prior  and  I  wasn’t  selected  then.  But  I  think  in  my  experience,  everything  happens  for  a  reason.  You  just  have  to  remember  that.
And  there’s  a  time  and  place  for  everything.  During  2022,  I  got  to  know  some  amazing  women.  I  got  to  know  other  patients.
other  advocates.  And  it  has  been  an  amazing  sisterhood.  It’s,  I  never  had  the  ability  to  just  be  me  in  a  conversation  when  it  comes  to  medical  issues,
you  know,  because  eventually  you  get  this  kind  of  morbid  sense  of  humor,  because  of  what  you’re  doing.  And  sometimes  people  are  like,  Oh,  she’s  joking  about  about  that.
Whereas  with  my  heart  sisters,  they  get  it.  They  understand,  oh,  if  I  say,  oh,  I’m  traveling,  I  feel  like  I’m  bringing  a  pharmacy  with  me.  They  understand  because  they  know  that  all  the  medication  that  requires  for  you  to  live,
you  have  to  drag  along  with  you.  So  yeah,  it  was  a  great  experience.  I  still  volunteer  with  the  American  Heart  Association  whenever  they  need.  need.
As  a  matter  of  fact,  I’m  going  to  be  doing  some  things  on  their  support  network  so  that  way  I  can  help  other  women  who  are  either  pregnant  or  postpartum  if  they  have  any  questions  about  anything  at  all  that  I  can  kind  of  talk  them  through,
give  them  advice.  I  started  volunteering  with  the  American  Heart  Association  back  in  roughly  2019.  I  had  a  had  knee  surgery  and  I  needed  something  to  do.
You  know,  when  you’re  a  nurse  deep  down,  when  you’d  love  to  help  people,  it  doesn’t  stop.  So  I  figured  if  I  can’t  work,  I’ll  volunteer  my  time.  And  that’s  kind  of  what  got  me  started  and  brought  me  to  being  able  to  be  selected  in  2022.
– You  know,  with  the  American  Heart  Association,  it  seems  like  after  reading  your  book,  book  that  kind  of  was  such  a  healing  process  for  you  and  I  mean  when  I  was  reading  your  book.
I’ve  thought  How  did  she  ever  do  this?  How  did  everything  that  happened  to  you?  I  thought  oh  my  goodness  You  are  very  you’re  a  very  driven  person.
I  mean  that  was  so  can  you  share  how  sometimes  you  are  so  driven  how  that  I  Don’t  know  the  way  they  that  you  had  to  work  through  being  so  driven  to  get  you  to  this  point  where  you  are  now.
Yeah  so  I  really  think  it’s  my  background.  My  parents  are  immigrants.  I’m  first -generation  born  in  the  States.  They’ve  always  taught  myself  and  my  brother  that  education  is  key  to  get  you  anywhere.
That’s  your  power.  I’m  the  oldest  as  well  so  I  have  that  you  know  alpha  female.  mentality  or  personality.  And  ever  since  I  was  younger,
I  always  wanted  to  help  people.  And  I  always  knew  that  I  didn’t  want  to  be  stuck  in  just  one  place.  I  always  wanted  to  grow.  And  my  parents  always  supported  growth  in  us.
So  I  really  believe  that  that’s  where  some  of  that  comes  from.  And  just…  I  believe  that  my  drive,  it  increased  when  I  had  children,
when  you  start  thinking  about  your  future.  And  eventually  in  2015,  I  did  have  a  daughter,  which  was  a  very  trying,  hard  time  for  me.
But  especially  having  my  daughter,  that  pushed  me  even  further.  Because  I  kept  thinking,  well,  I  don’t  want  her  to  go  through  what  I  went  through.
So  I  don’t  want  any  other  woman  to  experience  or  have  to  hold  their  daughter  dear  because  someone  didn’t  listen  to  their  daughter.  I  don’t  want,
with  cardiovascular  disease  being  the  number  one  killer  of  new  moms,  I  don’t  want  another  woman  or  I  don’t  want  a  family  to  have  to  bury,  you  know.
And  just  based  upon  what  I’ve  been  through,  I  felt  that  I  survived  for  a  reason.  I  cannot  allow  things  to  just  keep  going  the  way  that  they  are  and  not  do  something  about  it.
My  husband  says  that  I’m  overly  altruistic.  And  be  that  as  it  may,  I  don’t  know  if  it’s  because  I’m  a  Virgo  or  what,  but  I  have  something  to  do  with  it.
mean  my  my  heart  I  have  a  very  caring  heart  my  soul  deep  within  my  soul  is  this  desire  and  this  fire  to  really  help  others  and  I’m  not  happy  unless  I  do.
Well  that  is  very  altruistic  so  your  husband  is  right.  I  would  ask  you  because  I  think  it’s  important  for  the  listeners  to  know  there  was  no  family  family  history,  right,  in  your  family  of  heart  problems.
What  is  the  likelihood  of  someone  who  has  had  this  SCAD  experience  having  it  again  and  what  do  you  need  to  do  to  avoid  that?  What  medications,
like  how  much  is  involved  in  keeping  yourself  healthy,  especially  during  a  third  pregnancy?  So  with  SCAD,  they’re  really  important.
is  no  way  to  avoid  it.  If  it’s  meant  to  happen,  it’s  going  to  happen.  But  I  usually  tell  people,  you  know,  why  not  make  sure  that  your  foundation  is  solid,
meaning  diet  and  exercise?  Why  not  make  sure  that  from  the  beginning  we’re  teaching  our  kids  how  to  eat  healthy?  And  I’m  not  saying  that  you  have  to  eat  salad.
every  single  day,  I  certainly  don’t  do  that,  but  make  healthy  choice  options.  In  my  house,  when  I  was  growing  up,  we  didn’t  have  a  lot  of  sugar  or  soda  or  chips  or  anything  like  that.
So  I  truly  believe  because  my  parents  helped  me  build  a  solid  foundation  that  helped  me  recover.  I  don’t  know  why,
I  don’t  know  why,  didn’t  pass  away  like  so  many  other  women  have  before  me.  I  think  that  because  of  my  athleticism  and  because  of  just  the  way  that  I  was,
I  was  healthy.  Like  you  said,  I  had  no  family  history.  I  think  those  factors  truly  did  help  in  my  survival.  Women  in  general  also  because  men  mental  health  affects  physical  health,
we  have  to  pay  attention.  We  have  to  learn  that  self -care  is  not  selfish,  that  it’s  actually  self -less,  because  when  you  take  care  of  yourself,  you  are  able  to  take  care  of  others,
but  you  have  to  make  yourself  a  priority.  We  have  to  just  pay  attention.  There’s  no  —  for  regular  heart  disease,  you  know,  you  need  to  —  avoid  smoking,
you  know,  drinking,  you  know,  fats,  high  salt,  things  like  that.  You  have  to  know  what  your  family  history  is  in  order  for  you  to  address  if  there  is  a  risk.
With  those  who  have  had  scab,  unfortunately,  many  women  are  healthy.  And  it  just  suddenly  happens,  whether  it’s  because  of  hormones  or  or  other  connective  tissue  disorders,
you  know,  you  just  don’t  know  if  you’re  going  to  be  the  one,  so  you  have  to  ensure  that  you’re  doing  what  you  need  to  to  protect  yourself,  to  protect  your  body.
I  think,  let’s  see,  I’m  trying  to  think  what  the  percentage  is,  but  for  a  person  who  has  had  a  scad,  I  think  I  think  it’s  roughly  10 %  that  they  are  likely  to  have  another  one.
But  just  like  with  SCAD,  you  don’t  know  if  you’re  going  to  be  part  of  that  10%.  So  it’s  very,  very  important  that  you,  you  know,  go  to  the  doctor,
get  those  things  checked  out.  If  there’s  something  wrong,  fix  it.  So  that  way,  you  know  what  your  baseline  is  where  you  should  be.  be.  When  things  happen,
we  have  to  be  open  and  honest  about  it.  We  can’t  go  to  the  doctor  and  think,  “Oh,  well,  something  happened  to  me  two  weeks  ago,  but  I’m  not  gonna  bring  it  up  because,”  you  know,  “that  pain  went  away.”  No,
talk  about  it,  because  that  could  be  an  indication  of  something  else.  And  our  doctors  can  only  treat  us  for  what  we  tell  them  is  wrong.  So  you  have  to  be  open  and  honest  about  it.  So  you  have  to  be  open  and  honest.
And  on  the  flip  side,  you  have  to  understand  that  medicine  is  a  practice.  So  doctors  practice  medicine.  Not  one  doctor  knows  100 %  of  anything.
So  it’s  okay  to  ask  questions.  It’s  okay  to  get  a  second  opinion.  It’s  okay  to  fire  your  doctor  and  go  to  a  new  one.  Do  what  you  have  to  do.
do  in  order  to  make  sure  that  you  are  well  taken  care  of.  And  if  you  have  that  super  woman  syndrome,  then  that’s  what  you  need  to  do.  If  you’re  not  here  to  take  care  of  things,
who’s  going  to  be?  – You  know,  you  said  just  what  you  just  said  is  something  that  we  talk  about  so  much  is  getting  second  opinions.  It’s  okay  to  break  up  and  fire  your  doctor  if  you’re  not  happy.
happy  and  you  have  evidence  of  that  in  your  book  and  just  the  whole  insurance  thing,  just  going  through  the  doctor  that  you  had  in  the  hospital  and  then  when  you  had  to  go  to  another  doctor  that  really  wasn’t  jiving  with  you.
And  then  you  found  a  doctor  who  said,  when  you  said  you  wanted  to  go  to  the  Mayo  Clinic  and  they  were  like,  I  think  that’s  a  great  idea.  And  I  thought,  “There  you  go,
you  have  this  doctor.”  Yeah,  that’s  listening  to  you  and  helping  you.  And  that’s  another  thing,  a  lot  of  women,  I  think  patients  in  particular,  but  I  think  women  as  well.
I  mean,  I  feel  that  they’re  so  dismissed  in  that  it  was,  yeah.  – And  I  think  when  I  went  back  to  school  and  became  a  nurse,  it’s  because  of  what  happened  to  me  at  Mike’s.
experience.  It’s  because  of  that  nurse  that  saved  my  life.  It’s  because  I  saw  that  there  was  a  need  for  advocacy  and  I  wanted  to  be  that  person  for  my  patients.  And  I  tell  them,
I  say,  if  you’re  experiencing  something,  if  you’re  not  happy,  it’s  okay  to  say  something  to  the  doctor.  It’s  okay  to  ask  a  question.
I’ll  do  whatever  I  need  to  do  and  it’s  okay  to  say  something  to  the  doctor.  you,  but  ultimately,  you  are  in  charge  of  your  health,  so  you  have  to  make  the  decision.  Too  many  times,
especially  with  older  generations,  they  assume  that,  you  know,  anyone  who’s  in  a  position  of  authority,  they  know  everything,  so  they’re  not  going  to  question.  No.
That  is  gone.  There’s  been  too  many  cases  of  people  being  mistreated.  misdiagnosed,  women  being  dismissed  and  it  truly  affects  the  rest  of  their  life,
if  not  also,  you  know,  may  affect  them  living  or  dying.  So  we  have  to  ensure  that  we  are  using  our  voice,
that  we  understand  that  they  are  providing  a  service,  just  like  when  you  go  to  a  restaurant,  you  know.  this  is  not  a  service.
You’re  paying  for  this  person,  whether  you  wanna  think  about  it  or  not,  you  pay  into  insurance,  they  pay  these  doctors.  So  make  sure  that  you’re  getting  exactly  what  you  deserve.
– It’s  so  true.  And  Kisha,  we  are  so  grateful  that  you  are  doing  well  and  you’re  giving  back  so  much  to  the  women’s  health  community.
So  we  want  the  listeners  to  make  sure  to  check  out  your  new  book.  Congratulations  again  on  that  Sonata  for  a  damaged  heart.  And  best  of  luck  on  the  book  and  your  health.
And  thank  you  for  coming  on  today,  we  appreciate  it.  – Thank  you  so  much  for  having  me.  I  really,  really  appreciate  this  opportunity.  And  I  hope  that,  you  know,  everyone,  if  anything,  you  know,
they  take  charge  of  their  health  and  say,  “Don’t  dismiss  us.”  – Amen  to  that.  – Absolutely,  yes.  Thank  you  so  much.  – Thank  you.  (upbeat  music)