By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – American women have a lot to worry about. They're pretty wrapped up fretting over their families, their jobs, and their communities. But there's one thing most women neglect to worry about - their health.
Experts say women aren't even aware of what their biggest health threat is - heart disease. A special "Target the Heart" forum for women was held Thursday in Buffalo. It hopes to teach others the lesson one local woman learned the hard way.
You've seen her, or someone much like her, before. She's that thirty-something woman in the back corner of the gym. The one whose long blond curls bounce obediently as she marches her way through another three miles on the body trek machine. She's beautiful. And fit looking. But as Trisha Wonderly knows, looks can be deceiving. Three years ago - at age 36 - the five K runner was diagnosed with a serious heart condition. But Trisha says for a long time both she and her doctor ignored the warning signs.
"I thought my shortness of breath was due to me being over weight, and you know, out of shape, and things women typically ignore," said Wonderly. "I was always fatigued. I had gone to the doctor several times, complaining of fatigue. They wrote it off as having mono, or just being a tired parent."
That was easy enough for Trisha to accept. Her three young children did keep her running. But Trisha says,finally, the symptoms refused to be ignored.
"I was brushing my teeth and I passed out, and honestly thought nothing of it. I thought I was just busy. I was under stress, trying to get everyone out of the house and running around, as usual. I felt a little bit of tightness and I blew it off and went to the gym a little while later," Wonderly said. "I felt fine for two weeks.
"Two weeks later I went to tie my three year old son's shoe, on my way to pick up my other two children at school, and I passed out on top of him, knocking him over, hitting my head on the wall on the way down."
That finally scared her enough to go to the emergency room. Trisha says doctors eventually ran some tests. But not before asking questions like whether or not she was pregnant, or if she took drugs, or if she was maybe on the Atkins diet. Not just insulting, but dangerous first assumptions. Doctors know that heart disease is the number one killer of women. In fact, it's what kills one out of every two women. That's half of us. Those are pretty bad odds. And even worse in Western New York. Here, with our chicken wings and winter hibernation, the risk goes up by nearly forty percent.
Doctor Neica Goldberg is the leading cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York city. She says women are far more afraid of breast cancer. Amazing, since heart disease is far more likely, and deadly. And she says the misinformation is compounded by neglect.
"Women are so busy taking care of their families, and themselves, and working, that often times they leave themselves out and they don't get the right care, or they don't even go to the doctor," said Goldberg.
But, as Trisha Wonderly found out, going to the doctor isn't always enough. Goldberg says women have come to her with horror stories like Trisha's. Doctors who told them to take Maalox for indigestion when, in fact, they had suffered a heart attack. But why? Goldberg says heart disease is still thought of as an old man's disease. And that's the way research treats it too. But Goldberg says women are not small men. Their symptoms may be different, more subtle. Or, because of hormones, even delayed. Still, Goldberg says the disease is there - a silent, lurking killer.
"We have seen studies that were autopsy studies of young women who died in car accidents had the early build up of cholesterol plaque in their arteries, and that was correlated with smoking and eating a high fat diet and being overweight," said Goldberg.
With Trisha's disease, the cause is genetic. But these days she's still working out. She needs to prevent lifestyle problems that could make her condition worse. Trisha knows heart disease is something she'll live with for the rest of her life. She carries the scars of two surgeries. And the scars of fear everyday. But in her chest she also carries a special pacemaker that keeps that fear and her heart in check. Trisha says she now knows it's what's on the inside that counts.
"Women are afraid of the wrong things. A lot of people here at the gym are here more for their physical beauty than for their health, and I think they should really think about their bodies and their overall health, and not so much what's on the outside, but taking care of the inside too," said Wonderly.
Dr. Goldberg says sometimes that means having to overcome the bias of outdated, conventional medical practice.
"One way we, as women, that we can take care of this, is if it's not being offered at the office visit, you need to bring it up."
Trisha is now asking lots of questions. And she's also talking to any woman or group who will listen to help spread the word. She says this is definitely not an old man's disease. And she realized that fully when she and her children walked in the annual Heart walk. Their sign said, walking in honor of Mom.
"I looked at that sign and I thought, hmm, Mom is me," said Wonderly. "I had tears in my eyes when I was walking, thinking, you know, what am I doing here? I'm a mother. I have children I have to raise, that I need to educate, to get out of school, and build their foundation. And every day I struggle to make it to the next day."
I'm healthy and I probably will have a normal life, but there is that chance that I might not . And I think people need to be aware of the symptoms and take action. There's no question about it."
Survivors and experts began a campaign of awareness Thursday with the "Target the Heart" summit at the Hyatt Regency downtown.