Personal Narrative: Heart Risk Assessment

Last year, I thought I was having a heart attack.

Heart disease runs in my family. My grandfather died suddenly of a heart attack. My grandmother suffered from heart disease and underwent surgery. Two uncles have had bypass surgery.

So when my chest felt tight, my left arm felt funny and I had strange abdominal pain, I went to the emergency room. After all, I had several of the classic heart attack symptoms.

I also knew that heart disease is the number-one killer of women in the United States, and that all too often we ignore the symptoms. We’re too busy to go to the doctor, we worry that we’re overreacting, we chalk it up to just being tired.

Turns out, I wasn’t having a heart attack—I had appendicitis.

Although my heart wasn’t the problem that night, the experience, coupled with my family history, scared me into making sure it wouldn’t send me back to the emergency room another day.

Two assessment options include lab work, body measurements and a private consultation to help figure out your personal risk factors.

One hour and $75 later, I learned that despite my family’s history of heart disease, my risk was relatively low thanks to my lifestyle.

I’ve told everyone I know to make this inexpensive, potentially lifesaving appointment. And if my story isn’t enough to convince you, listen to Joyce Collins, a heart disease survivor, in the video below:

You don’t need a referral from your doctor to schedule a risk assessment. Call 785-505-3636 or fill out the online form to make an appointment today.

In the meantime, use the Mayo Clinic’s online risk calculator to help find out your risk for heart disease.

After all, $75 is a small price to pay to stay healthy—and out of the emergency