Spread the love
Sunday, February 11, 2007 8:41 AM PST
Beckey Arnold
Argus Observer
Ontario
February - the month of love and romance shared with our Valentines.
Our hearts are full of much love and affection for the special people in our lives, but we must learn to love our own hearts, the American Heart Association says.
February is also American Heart Month, with events such as Go Red, Women of Heart and Sole and other heart health awareness seminars.
Holy Rosary Medical Center will host its free, sixth annual Heart Health Seminar from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Feb. 27 in the Snake River Conference Room.
Dr. James Field, a board certified cardiologist with Idaho Cardiology Associates in Boise, will be the guest speaker.
“He will be discussing risk factors for both men and women,” Stacey Taylor, marketing and public relations specialist for HRMC, said.
Taylor said it is neat to be holding the seminar in Ontario, and “it's not often these are offered in our area.” The event will be very informational and presented from one of the top sources, she said.
“We want to raise awareness,” Taylor said. “Heart disease is the No. 1 killer for women.”
In an e-mail from Taylor, she stated, “in 2006, Holy Rosary Medical Center's Cardiology and Respiratory Care department performed 4,674 Electrocardiograms (ECG/EKG), otherwise know as heart scans; 1,049 cardiac stress tests, 145 Holter monitors (24 to 48 hour cardiac monitor); and 1210 Echocardiograms (ultrasound of the heart).
“In total, HRMC provided over 7,000 heart studies for our patients. The Cardiology and Respiratory Care department is celebrating American Heart Month by naming Valentine's Day, Wednesday, ‘HRMC Cardiology Day.'”
Taylor also said the department is festively decorated and heart facts are posted in the hallways for employees and patients to read.
In other celebrations with American Heart Month, the “Second Annual Women of Heart and Sole Luncheon” will begin at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Nampa Civic Center in Nampa. Tickets are $20 and include a silent auction, exhibit tables and a lunch with an informative and inspiring program.
Mellanie True Hills, Austin, Texas, will share her personal story of battling heart disease and the importance of knowledge and awareness.
Hills is the author of “A Woman's Guide to Saving Her Own Life” and a national speaker for the American Heart Association.
“When I wrote my book, I made a goal to reach 100,000 women,” Hills said. “My new goal is 500,000 women.”
Traveling was a normal thing to Hills when she worked as an Internet pioneer. One day when Hills stepped off a plane, she noticed extreme shortness of breath, fatigue and some pain on her left side, she said.
“I had two symptoms for a heart attack,” Hills said.
She decided to monitor her symptoms and wait until she returned home to make a doctor's appointment.
When she returned, she said she had many tests performed and surgery was in order. While on the operating table, the doctor was having complications with the stent and it almost caused Hills to have a major heart attack.
“I almost died in emergency heart surgery,” Hills said.
Hills said she focuses her speeches mostly on atrial fibrillation.
According to the American Heart Association Web site, “Atrial fibrillation is a disorder found in about 2.2 million Americans. During atrial fibrillation, the heart's two small upper chambers (the atria) quiver instead of beating effectively. Blood isn't pumped completely out of them, so it may pool and clot. If a piece of a blood clot in the atria leaves the heart and becomes lodged in an artery in the brain, a stroke results. About 15 percent of strokes occur in people with atrial fibrillation.”
Last year Hills took on a mission, she said, to start a foundation for study and research of atrial fibrillation.
“This is something special to me,” Hills said. “One thing to note, I didn't have a heart attack because I recognized the symptoms.”
Hills uses a acronym method with the word LIFE. “L” stands for left pain (shoulder, arm or jaw), “I” stands for indigestion or nausea, “F” stands for fatigue (sleeplessness), and “E” stands for exertion (shortness of breath, the feeling of not being able to catch your breath).
“Would you know if you were having a heart attack?” she asked. “Remember the word LIFE because one day it could save yours or a loved one's life.”
