Heart Health Advocate to be in Tampa to Address Life-Threatening Irregular Heartbeat That is a Lesser Known Cause of Stroke
Heart health advocate, Mellanie True Hills, will be speaking at the Pepin Heart Hospital in Tampa to share her story of living with atrial fibrillation
| WHO: | Mellanie True Hills, heart health advocate and author of A Woman’s Guide to Saving Her Own Life |
| WHEN: | Thursday, June 28, 2007 6–8 PM |
| WHAT: | Mended Hearts—Community is invited to attend |
| WHERE: | Pepin Heart Hospital (Wallace Conference Center) 3100 E. Fletcher Ave, Tampa, FL |
Would you be scared if your heart started racing for no apparent reason and you felt that you were going to pass out? For five million Americans suffering from atrial fibrillation, the most common heart irregularity, this is a terrifying daily occurrence.
Atrial fibrillation, commonly called afib, is relatively unknown and involves rapid or irregular heartbeats or quivering of the upper chambers of the heart. Afib leads to congestive heart failure from overworking the heart and to stroke, the #3 killer and the #1 cause of permanent disability. Strokes caused by afib take one person every hour in the U.S., and women account for over sixty percent of those deaths.
For Mellanie True Hills, life with atrial fibrillation was terrifying. According to Hills, many doctors underestimate the impact of afib on patients’ lives. As a former high-tech and high-stress executive, fear took over her life as she was paralyzed with anxiety over the risk of stroke during each atrial fibrillation attack, keeping her from driving, flying or traveling far from home, from attending meetings, or from even being alone. She also suffered the vagaries of being on an anticoagulant, Coumadin®, to avoid blood clots. After numerous afib episodes accompanied by blood clots and near-strokes, she had surgery that cured her, and gave her back her life and freedom.
She says, “Afib takes such a huge physical, emotional, and financial toll that I just can’t stand by on the sidelines and watch others go through this when I know that there are ways to manage and cure it.” Thus it was only natural that she would start the American Foundation for Women’s Health and a new web site, www.StopAfib.org, to inform atrial fibrillation patients and their families about options for dealing with this daunting condition.
In Tampa, Hills will share her story of living with atrial fibrillation and talk about:
- The lack of urgency regarding this condition and how that can be deadly
- How treatments such as anticoagulants can be grueling, especially for women
- Developments in procedures to cure atrial fibrillation
For more information or to attend this event, call 813-760-5195.
For more about Mellanie True Hills’ story and atrial fibrillation, see www.StopAfib.org. To talk with her more about atrial fibrillation, please contact her at 940-466-9898.