Heart Health Current Topics in Heart Health

Life After a Heart Attack

Summary & Participants

Life after a heart attack can be healthier - and sweeter.

Medically Reviewed On: August 11, 2008

Webcast Transcript

DEBBIE ANN, HEART ATTACK SURVIVOR: Sometimes you lay there and you wonder if you’re going to wake up in the morning and wondering if it’s going to happen again or is it happening again.

ANNOUNCER: Debbie Ann is a heart attack survivor.

DEBBIE ANN, HEART ATTACK SURVIVOR: It surprised me how much fear I had about it because it was such an unknown.

ANNOUNCER: Because she got to the hospital quickly, she came through it well. But the experience has changed her life.

DEBBIE ANN, HEART ATTACK SURVIVOR: I have a direct consequence if I don’t deal with stress well. I had one customer that was like really, really, you know, being very particular and being unreasonably mean. I’m not looking at it like they’re being a mean customer; I’m looking at that they possibly can kill me.

ANNOUNCER: Reducing stress is just one of the life style changes a survivor may need to make according to the American Heart Association. Exercising more, eating healthy foods and avoiding tobacco are also key. Choosing the right doctor helped Debbie Ann cope.

DEBBIE ANN, HEART ATTACK SURVIVOR: I’m much younger than most of the people that have heart disease. And I want to be able to walk up a flight of steps with my suitcase and carry it if I have to. So that’s what I really appreciate about her, that she looks at things from a lot of different angles.

NIECA GOLDBERG, MD, DEBBIE ANN’S CARDIOLOGIST: In addition to things that I can do as a doctor -- listen to my patient, recommend medical therapies, follow their exercise program, I think it’s also important that the women who have heart disease be in a supportive environment, because support has been shown, social support has been shown to prolong survival after a heart attack.

ANNOUNCER: Debbie Ann says her heart attack has also changed her outlook on life.

DEBBIE ANN, HEART ATTACK SURVIVOR: I realized that you really need to live. And I look around and I see a lot of people and they sort of do a lot of dying while they’re here and I really like to live my life. If there’s a new play in the city or if there’s a new restaurant to go to or anybody wants to try anything new, I’m the one that’s game for it.

ANNOUNCER: Thanks for joining us on today’s Once Daily.