Eileen’s story: “When my surgeon opened up my heart, my artery disintegrated”

♥  It’s Heart Month!  

Watch and learn, ladies: This is the Eileen Williams Story  (2:38)

from The Heart Truth: National Heart, Blood & Lung Institute

Q: What have you done to help your own heart this month?

Carolyn’s Note, Monday, April 3, 2017:

I am very sad to learn today of Eileen’s death. She attended the WomenHeart Science & Leadership Symposium at Mayo Clinic in 2005, three years before I did.  Eileen was extremely active in her community, touching an immeasurable amount of lives with her wonderful humour and spirit.

Eileen worked 32 years with the Arlington County Police Department. She was an EMS Chief and Paramedic for the Buckhall Volunteer Fire Department, and was instrumental in launching a program with three fire departments in Prince William County to provide HeartScarves to women heart patients in their ambulances. As an EMT instructor, she delivered many WomenHeart@Work heart health presentations to paramedics, 911 operators and social service representatives. In 2015, Eileen was presented the Healthcare Heroine Award by the March of Dimes for her work as a trainer with Training 911 Inc. 

Rest in peace, my dear heart sister . . .

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The sad reality of women’s heart disease hits home

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥  @HeartSisters

I’m nicely settled back home now after a few days across the pond in beautiful Vancouver, where I was covering the 64th Annual Canadian Cardiovascular Congress there for Heart Sisters readers.

My favourite things about this trip: the weather, walking the Vancouver sea wall, the mountains, the divine heart-smart food, the fabulously helpful Heart and Stroke Foundation staff at the Media Centre, and the fact that I somehow managed to p-a-c-e myself most days while trying to take care of my heart.

My least favourite thing: out of over 700 scientific papers presented at this conference, I could count on one hand those that focused even remotely on women’s heart disease. My question is: why? Continue reading “The sad reality of women’s heart disease hits home”