Working with heart patients at Western Baptist Hospital for more than 30 years, Annie McGregor knew all the warning signs of heart disease.
  She knew that an uncomfortable tightness in the chest or a feeling of nausea might signal problems. She knew also that symptoms of heart disease in women may be less obvious, like shortness of breath or fatigue.
  Despite all that she knew, McGregor was convinced heart disease couldn’t happen to her. But it did.
  A little more than a year ago, McGregor took her 8-month-old grandson to church and felt an unusual pain in her chest as she carried him up the steps. The pain went away as soon as she sat down to rest but continued to plague her throughout the day.
  “I began to wonder if it could be my heart,” said McGregor, “but like many women, I made excuses and attributed it to everyday aches and pains and fatigue.”
  When McGregor--an R.N. and coordinator of Baptist’s Cardiology department-- went to work the next day, the pain continued. She asked her staff to schedule an EKG and stress test. The results confirmed what McGregor tried to deny: Something was wrong with her heart.
  An immediate heart catheterization revealed a 90 percent blockage in an artery leading to McGregor’s heart. She had balloon angioplasty, where a drug-coated stent was inserted to keep the artery open.
  J. Kenneth Ford, M.D., cardiologist at Western Baptist Hospital, said McGregor’s experience is typical of many women.
  “Sometimes a woman may experience arm pain, neck pain, light-headedness or even just general fatigue,” said Ford. “The symptoms aren’t always as evident as they may be with men, but they can be just as deadly.”
  In fact, the American Heart Association says that cardiovascular disease claims more women's lives than the next five causes of death combined — about 500,000 women a year.
  McGregor is proud to be a part of another set of statistics: The survivors.
  “I’m thankful that I did not wait longer,” said McGregor. “The old saying ‘practice what you preach’ really hit home. I have a lot of living to do and a lot of my heart to share. Now more than ever, I realize how precious the gift of a healthy heart is.”
  Today, McGregor is back to doing what she loves best—working with heart patients and babysitting her grandchildren.
“What could be more heart-warming than that?” she asked.

Construction continues on Western Baptist Hospital’s new Baptist Heart Center, with completion scheduled for spring 2007. It will house all invasive and noninvasive cardiac procedures, as well as the hospital’s Cardiac Rehabilitation department. This summer, WBH will feature a new Cardiac Center of Excellence on its Web site at westernbaptist.com. Information on heart disease, along with a risk assessment, will be available with the click of a mouse. To learn more about cardiac services at Western Baptist, visit us online or phone Baptist Health Line at (270) 575-2918.