"I had shortness of breath but I never thought it was my heart - I had just had a checkup and all my numbers were good. But actually I had 99 percent blockage of my main artery,” says 58-year-old Carolyn Maupin. “In 2004, I survived heart disease with the help of UAB."
Not the typical symptoms
“In January of 2004, I started having shortness of breath when I’d go up the steps. I never thought it was my heart, though; all my numbers were good at my last checkup– blood pressure, cholesterol. As it progressed, I started getting these feelings. I had no chest pain at all, but a feeling that would come up in the back of my neck and down my shoulder. I thought it was a pulled muscle.“My EKG was normal but my internist sent me to a cardiologist, Dr. Gertler at UAB, for a stress test. Dr. Gertler spotted something suspicious and scheduled me for a heart catheterization to see what was going on. I never, never once thought about my heart. Not once."
“I had no chest pain at all.”A close call
"Just a couple of days after scheduling the catheterization, I got up and I didn’t feel well. But I ignored it, and took the dog to the groomers and ran other errands. When I walked in to the beauty shop they took one look at me and said ‘You don’t feel well.’ I said ‘No, I don’t,’ but I got my hair cut anyway. “When I got home I still didn’t feel good. I lay down and I had a stabbing in the middle of my back. It hurt, and I was scared. My husband, Joe, told me to call the doctor. When I called Dr. Gertler he said, ‘Get to the emergency room right now.’
“Once I was admitted to the hospital, Dr. Aqel started the catheterization procedure. They explained what they would do, and told me I could watch the monitor to see what was happening. I could see the dye going through my veins. In a few minutes, I heard Dr. Aqel say, ‘Get a balloon and a stent right now, hurry. We’ve got a 99-percent-blocked artery.’ Later the nurse said if I’d had a heart attack, I would have died. So I was really blessed to be there.
“They put in a
stent that puts out medication. It’s been over two years now and I’m fine. I had another stress test in January of 2006 and everything looks good.”
"I’ll tell everybody to go to UAB”
“I wasn’t crazy about going downtown, but I’ve heard so many things about UAB - especially related to the heart. And let me tell you, with the treatment I got, I would go no place else. I’ll tell everybody. When I got back to my room, I had five nurses getting me in and getting me on the bed. I’ve never had such treatment. I told Joe, ‘Just go home. I’m fine-everybody’s taking care of me, and my dog needs you more than I do right now!’ I really felt that if anything happened, they’d be right there to help me. And that’s a good feeling.
“I like Dr. Gertler. When I go to see him, he’ll sit and listen and answer questions as long as I have something to say. His office at The Kirklin Clinic® at Acton Road is close to home and the people are wonderful.”
“With the treatment I got, there's no other place I would go."Recovery
“Sitting around the table at
cardiac rehab, I started looking at all the women - you think you’ll see a lot of men, but there are a lot of women there.
“I had six weeks of cardiac rehab after the procedure. I saw a dietician, and learned a lot of things about exercise. The idea is to get on an exercise routine.
“Joe and I bought bicycles and have done a lot of riding. I did everything I’m supposed to do - I changed a lot of my eating habits and started exercising. I feel wonderful. Now we’re traveling, and we’ve also been doing a lot of home remodeling - redoing floors and going up and down ladders. Dr. Gertler says that’s good exercise!”
"Don’t deny it like I did”
“Cindy, a friend I used to work with, died of a massive heart attack last Memorial Day at age 47. Her husband found her in the kitchen. It broke my heart, she was the prettiest girl – tall and thin. They said she’d been complaining of chest pain for a couple of weeks and I don’t think she’d gone to the cardiologist yet. You talk about a shocker. I’d like to do some talks for the women at my former workplace, to make them aware of the symptoms of heart disease so they’ll take them seriously.
“If I’d just known what she was going through, I’d have told Cindy don’t wait go now this is an emergency and she would be alive today.
“Before I was diagnosed, I knew nothing about taking precautions for heart disease. I’d been healthy all my life, and I certainly didn’t know heart disease was the number-one killer. I’d tell women to know what the symptoms are and don’t ignore them. I’d also tell them if you’re having symptoms, get to a doctor and make it a cardiologist first.
“It doesn’t have to be a pain in your chest, mine wasn’t. In fact most women do not have chest pains. I just had a stabbing in my back and shortness of breath.
“My biggest message to women is don’t ignore it - don’t put it off – I did & it almost cost me my life.”
“Don’t ignore it – I did and it almost cost me my life.”A heart-felt thanks
“I sent Dr. Gertler a thank-you note after the procedure. So often you don’t thank the person who saved your life. I’d refer anyone to him - I can’t thank him enough.”