CBS New York has shared a video of an exclusive interview with actress Susan Lucci on her battle with heart disease. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women in the country, outranking even all types of cancer.
Susan is the American Heart Association's national ambassador for the Go Red for Women campaign. She shares with CBS the incident that started her down the road of fighting heart disease.
Susan was in a shopping center, shopping for a birthday present for her friend, when she started to feel pain radiating through her chest. She approached the boutique shop owner and explained the pain that she was feeling. Any other person would immediately call an ambulance, but the shop owner took the situation into her own hands.
Staying as calm as possible, the shop owner explained to Susan that her car was right outside, and she could get her to St. Francis Hospital faster than an ambulance could get there.
Richard Shlofmitz, MD, a doctor at St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center, explained that Susan felt the classic "elephant on the chest" feeling. When she arrived at the ER on a Friday night, they opened up her artery in an emergency procedure. Susan could have died; she had a 90% blockage. Her stent surgery was successful, and it has been three years since her surgery.
Susan is a healthy eater and exercises regularly, but once COVID hit, her healthy habits took a turn, causing her another scare. This time, her incident was cholesterol-induced. The doctors discovered an 80% blockage in a different artery.
Susan said she initially didn't want to talk about this second incident because she was embarrassed. Throughout these past three years, she has been constantly telling women to listen to their bodies, but when this second scare hit, she kept telling herself her bra was too tight and not acting on her symptoms.
Susan has continued to spread awareness of heart disease to women around the world, reminding them to take care of themselves and to add their own names to their to-do lists.
To hear more about Susan Lucci’s amazing story, click the video!
