她不知道出了什么事. 她爸爸心脏病发作时也不知道.

Susan Koeppen was two hours into a conference call while working from her home in Kirkland, 华盛顿, 当她开始感到左肩胛骨疼痛时.

Figuring it was from being idle for so long, she went from sitting to standing. 疼痛减轻了一点.

When the call ended, she went upstairs to grab something for lunch. 就在那时，她感到一阵强烈的恶心.

她的丈夫罗伯·科彭(Rob Koeppen)正准备离开家.

“我真的不舒服。”苏珊说. “你能留下来吗??"

"Sure," Rob responded, even though he didn't sense anything seriously wrong with her.

苏珊躺在床上，看看这是否有帮助. 这样做只会加重她的肩痛和恶心.

“这可能是COVID-19吗?苏珊想.

她走进浴室拿了一个家庭COVID测试. 结果是阴性.

As she continued to feel worse, she kept trying to figure out the source of her discomfort.

Then she remembered something: When her father experienced a heart attack, 他说不清楚到底是哪里出了问题, 只说他感觉很糟糕.

她需要去急诊室.

在等待治疗的时候，苏珊的思绪闪过. Fearing the worst, she realized she hadn't properly prepared her family for life without her. 例如, the normally organized then-63-year-old hadn't kept a log of passwords to important accounts. 她开始把它们记下来.

当苏珊终于走进一个房间时，她的血已经被抽干了. About five minutes later, a doctor arrived to give her aspirin and nitroglycerin.

"Wait a minute, shouldn't we find out what's going on before you give me anything?苏珊问.

“我们知道这是心脏病发作，”医生回答说.

苏珊和罗布惊呆了.

“怎么可能呢，我的心上人, who either jogged or swam a mile – or both – several times every week, 心脏病发作了吗?罗布说。.

Further tests showed a 100% blockage in the artery that provides most of the blood to the heart. 她被迅速送到导管实验室, 医生在哪里植入支架来恢复正常的血液流动.

这一切都发生在几个小时之内. 快速的反应可能救了她的命.

苏珊第二天就能回家了. She took the next couple weeks off from work to recover; during that time, 她还在当地医院开始了心脏康复治疗.

Nearly two years later, Susan pays closer attention to her lifestyle. She goes for a walk every day and swims, runs or hikes three to four times a week. She also eats more lean protein, fruits and vegetables while cutting back on sweets and red meat.

Starting this month, she'll have more time to be active, travel and enjoy the company of loved ones. 她即将从长达数十年的律师生涯中退休, most recently serving as vice president and chief privacy officer at a large travel technology company.

Susan now understands that symptoms of a heart attack can be subtle, especially in women. She reflects on her father, who had his heart attack around the age of 70. It was surprising when it happened because he was seemingly healthy. 他每天慢跑，甚至在海里游泳.

She also now better understands the threat posed by her family history. She was at an elevated risk because both her parents had heart attacks; her mom's mom had four heart attacks.

“这是我无法逃避的家族史，”苏珊说.

The good news of her family history is that her parents not only survived their heart attacks, 但也在接下来的几年里蓬勃发展. 她的母亲活到了91岁，父亲活到了86岁.

“我从中得到了很多希望和乐观，”苏珊说. "Having a heart attack doesn't necessarily mean that my life is going to be shorter or less fulfilling."

发自内心的故事 chronicles the inspiring journeys of heart disease and stroke survivors, caregivers and advocates.