Linda Kaminski
March 10th, 2008
Everything in my life can be divided into one of two categories – before or after April 2005. That is when I had a heart attack and six bypass surgeries. I was only 46, and I nearly died. Before I had a heart attack, I rarely exercised and had been a smoker since I was 16. Still, I had no idea that heart disease could impact me in such a dramatic way. When I thought of someone having a heart attack, I thought of an old man. If anything, I was more concerned about cancer than the health of my heart. But the truth is heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined – including breast and lung cancers.
Today, nearly three years later, I am a healthy, energized woman. In fact, I feel younger now than I did before my heart attack! I eat better, take medication daily and exercise five or six times a week. Most importantly, I haven’t smoked a single cigarette since my heart attack. Like many patients who have faced serious illness, this experience has given me a new appreciation for life. I don’t intend to waste it.
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