Sister to Sister

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Betsy’s story came to our attention when she was the guest speaker at Sister to Sister’s 2008 Executive Women’s Luncheon in Jacksonville, Florida. Her experience reminds us that even if you have no risk factors, it’s important to know warning signs of heart distress.

Betsy Abdulghani, 44
St. Augustine, Florida
Flight attendant (international) for American Airlines

What motivated you to take heart-health action?
Actually, I’m one of those people who had a heart attack but had no risk factors. In May 2007, I came in from a trip and felt a bit more stressed and tired than normal and I thought I was doing too much.

That night I made a healthy dinner of steamed vegetables over pasta. Afterwards, I had the worst indigestion. Then I noticed pain going down my right arm so I took an aspirin. I became nauseated which I attributed to the aspirin. Ignoring all the symptoms, including some chest tightness, as something serious, I took an Ambien and went to sleep.

Two days later, at the insistence of my spouse, I went in to see my doctor. I still had tightness in my chest and I was tired. He ran an EKG and that’s when the pace of the visit changed. The EKG showed my heart was in distress and that I already had had a heart attack and that I was on the verge of another.

I went to the emergency room and, after waiting a long time, I was sent to the heart cath lab. I had a major heart attack on the table—my artery collapsed during the procedure. Turns out, I had a total blockage of my left anterior distending artery. I now have two stents in that artery (and damage to the lower part of my heart).

In January 2009, after a routine stress test, another blockage was suspected. I underwent another heart cath and a blockage was discovered in front of the first stent. It was cleared through angioplasty and another stent was added.

What do you want women to know about heart health?
I want women to understand that even if you have no risk factors, you still need to know the warning signs of heart distress. For example, the pain I felt in my arm (it was in my right arm, not left as we have been taught is the sign of a heart attack). Also, beyond the risk factors women get screened for, things like lack of sleep and stress can affect a woman’s heart health – two things I definitely was experiencing.

What advice would you give to other women to be heart healthy?
I would say that the number one thing to do is to realize that heart disease is a race-less, gender-less (and ageless) disease. It can attack at anytime. I was just shy of my forty-second birthday when I had a heart attack. Also, if you don’t feel right, ask your doctor to run the battery of tests that can help detect whether you have heart disease. I've also done a lot to change my diet. For example, I watch my salt now. I don’t drink soda (it contains a lot of salt). I’ve started eating edamame and soy and I’ve been incorporating more of a Mediterranean diet.

What’s been the hardest part of becoming healthier?
Because I am a flight attendant, getting access to heart-healthy food is difficult. I fly internationally and, while I carry food with me, I can’t carry fruits and vegetables.

Do you have a favorite heart-healthy recipe you’d like to share?
I absolutely recommend adding edamame to your diet. You can eat it steamed in a salad or cold. I’m also big on eating hummus and I use olive oil when I cook.

Have you attended a Sister to Sister health event?
My first one was 2007 in Jacksonville, Florida. Then I spoke at the 2008 Executive Women’s Luncheon in Jacksonville. In 2008, I went to a Women’s Heart/Mayo Clinic symposium. Back in Jacksonville, I ran a booth for WomenHeart at the 2009 Sister to Sister’s Women’s Heart Health Fair.

How did Sister to Sister help you in your mission for heart health?
It educated me so much on my illness and it put me in a room with some of the greatest minds around. It’s important to find a doctor you can relate to. You need to be treated as an individual and as a woman. You have to find that person to help you during your journey. That’s very important.