Photo by: Jim Tatum/Journal Scene

Gay Prosser had a heart attack in 2006. She is now working to bring knowledge and awareness of women’s heart health to the public.

When it comes to raising awareness about women’s cardiovascular health, Gay Prosser is as serious as, well, a heart attack.

That’s because it took surviving one for her to get serious, she said. Now that she knows what she knows, Prosser says she wants to share that information with as many women as possible.

Go Red For Women, a national campaign put together by the American Heart Association seeks to bring that awareness of women’s heart health issues to the public. The campaign features a variety of events and activities, including the ninth annual Wear Red Day, scheduled for Friday, Feb. 3.

Heart disease is the number one killer of women in America, yet only one in six American women believe heart disease to be her greatest health threat, according to the American Heart Association. In fact, while one in 31 American women die from breast cancer, one in three die from cardiovascular disease, and ninety percent of women in the U.S. have one or more risk factors for developing heart disease.

Like many women, Prosser never thought much about heart disease, she said.

“When I had my heart attack, I actually weighted 25 pounds less than I do now – I didn’t look like someone who would seem to be likely to have one,” she said. “I was just 46 years old.”

The wake up call came on May 18, 2006, she said. Prosser was ill all night – nauseated, unable to keep anything down and feeling sharp pains radiating from her chest to her back. As a car wreck a few years prior had left her with back and neck injuries, she decided the pain was a flare up from that and her nausea was due to a stomach bug.

But it was one particular symptom, a very pronounced feeling of discomfort in her left arm, made her think twice, Prosser said.

“I don’t know how to describe it – it didn’t really hurt, but it was very uncomfortable – I couldn’t hold my left arm up without feeling this severe discomfort,” she said. “I decided that it was probably not serious, but that I should go to the hospital anyway and get checked out.”

She told her husband, who immediately offered to drive her but she refused.

“That’s another thing typical of women – we don’t want to bother anyone or put them out or worry them,” she said. “My husband was working; I was not and I didn’t want to worry him or disrupt his day.”

By the time she got to Trident Medical Center, she realized something was seriously wrong. She told emergency room staff what she was experiencing. Almost at once, they had her in a treatment room. Someone gave her baby aspirin and nitroglycerin; someone else drew blood and someone else gave her a shot of painkiller. Moments later, blood work confirmed what the medical staff suspected: Prosser was having a heart attack.

“I don’t remember much else about it – they worked on me in the ER and then I was in ICU for one or two days,” she said. “I remember calling my husband from the emergency room and telling him they said I was having a heart attack. Then I called him again to tell him they were taking me to surgery to put stents in.”

Prosser credits the staff at Trident with saving her life. She also makes no bones about how lucky she really was, considering most of her actions were wrong, from trying to tough out her symptoms to driving herself to the emergency room.

“Always call 911 – never, ever drive yourself,” she said. “They (EMS) know what they’re doing, they will start whatever needs to be done, and they will have the hospital ready for you by the time you get there. I could have passed out and hurt someone else or myself. Always call 911.”

More important, all women should get educated about the risk factors of heart disease and take proactive steps to address them, Prosser said. In Prosser’s case, she was severely stressed, she ate an unhealthy diet, she smoked, and she did not exercise.

Prosser also found out she is genetically predisposed to heart disease.

“Smoking is the single worst thing you can do,” she said. “I truly believe I had a heart because I was a smoker.”

Eighty percent of cardiac events in women could be prevented if women made the right choices for their hearts involving diet, exercise and abstinence from smoking, according to the American Heart Association.

Women should also recognize heart attack symptoms and call 911 if they experience any for longer than five minutes. Symptoms can include uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of the chest; it may last more than a few minutes, or go away and come back.

Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, back, neck, jaw or stomach, shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort, or other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness can also signal an impending heart attack.

One important point to make is that symptoms can differ in men and women, Prosser noted. As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.

Also, in women, heart disease can be a silent killer; less than a third of women in a recent survey reported any early warning signs before having a heart attack, according to the American Heart Association.

For more information go to www.goredforwomen.com.

Journalscene.com ® is pleased to offer readers the enhanced ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. Journalscene.com ® does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not Journalscene.com ®. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "report abuse" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website.

Users can now build user-to-user connections, follow friends' recent posts, add an avatar that fits their personality, and more. If you have posted here before you'll need to sign up again, or if you've never posted before, start now by reading our terms and conditions, and then signing up below!

• Santee Cooper announces 2012 refunding bond sale
• Santee Cooper announces organizational changes in operation and finance departments
• Santee Cooper employees pitch in on Day of Caring
• Aerial herbicide treatment on lakes under way
• Santee Cooper Board Authorizes Rate Study
• Santee Cooper announces refunding bond sale
• Santee Cooper, Florida Municipal Power Agency enter into letter of intent for share of planned V.C. Summer Station units
• Santee Cooper, Duke Energy Carolinas enter into letter of intent for share of planned V.C. Summer Station units 2 and 3