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Perhaps you would like to share your experience with heart disease. We would love to hear your stories.
Email us at share@meetwallysheart.co.za
Case Study 1
Case Study 2
Case Study 3
Case Study 4
Case Study 5
It was a normal Saturday last August for Suraya Martin, which meant a busy day starting with her role as manager of her daughter's volleyball team, rounding up the team and equipment and heading off to a game in Cape Town's northern suburbs.
"I was feeling absolutely fine and had just returned from a business trip around the country the day before." Married with two grown up children and a grandchild, Martin's job was all consuming, meaning getting home from work at 7:00 or 8:00 pm, before having to cook and sort out the home, while turning on her laptop to carry on working in between.
That Saturday, however, didn't turn out as she expected. "Everything was ready to go and I was lacing up my takkies, when I felt some discomfort. I put it down to mild indigestion and carried on. As I stood up to go out, I found myself out of breath, which I thought was odd but didn't give it too much thought.
"My daughter decided to drive to the game as I wasn't feeling right, but even then neither of us thought it was anything serious. It was only when we got the sports centre that the pain had grown to nausea and after I'd vomited, they decided to call my husband."
What happened next according to Martin was like watching a movie - as if it was happening to someone else. "Even when we arrived at the clinic I insisted that I was walking in myself but when I got to reception, they took one look at me and rushed me into casualty, ripped open my t-shirt, hooked me up to a heart/lung machine and called for a cardiologist. Even when they told me I was having a heart attack, it didn't register - after all weren't you supposed to have pains in your arms? I didn't have any pain there."
In fact, this was the second heart attack that day for Martin, although she hadn't realised the earlier 'discomfort' was also a heart attack. The cardiologists found two blockages in her arteries and during an angioplasty procedure inserted two stents* to clear these.
Looking back, Martin realises how she should have seen the warning signs. "My father died at age 45 and my sister at 50, both from heart attacks. Add to this the fact that I was working under enormous pressure, often going 36 hours with no sleep, smoking 30 cigarettes a day and not eating properly and I suppose a heart attack was on the cards."
Today Martin has quit her job and works for herself - in her own time, watching her diet and enjoying her 'second chance'. "I really appreciate the fact I'm still around and in fact now help out at the Heart and Stroke Foundation to give back."
* Stent - When an angioplasty is performed, a small balloon is introduced into the heart artery using very high pressure. At the point of the blockage it is then inflated and, if necessary, a spring called a "stent" is inserted to keep the coronary artery open.
Issued by The Heart and Stroke Foundation SA
For more information, please contact:
Jozi Donjeany, Simeka TWS Communications
Tel: (031) 2039800
Cell: 076 153 8286
Email: jozid@stws.adcorp.co.za
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