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2-07-2007 By MICHELLE MILLER Staff Writer There would be no showing for the noon presentation though - due to technical difficulties. However, the show did go on, just not as originally planed. Instead of showing the video, a live discussion about Jannette Snellbaker's experiences kicked off the program. "Live is always better anyway," joked Snellbaker as she and her cardiologist Dhananjai Menzies and cardiac surgeon Kevin Shortt approached the stage. Snellbaker, who went through quadruple bypass heart surgery in April 2007 at the age of 53, said she was there to present her story in hopes other women will learn from her experiences and make changes to prevent heart disease. She said often times women's symptoms of heart disease vary from men's and are more often overlooked. "Unfortunately, many physicians are too quick to attribute symptoms to stress and working too much and the real problem is missed," said Snellbaker. "Women need to listen to their body, they know their body best and know when something is wrong with it." Snellbaker, who is a coding educator at Bassett, said she was glad she was persistent with her doctors because, at first, tests showed no symptoms of anything being wrong. Snellbaker said once she started feeling more tired than usual and out of breath all the time, she went to see her primary care doctor. He had her take an EKG, but it came back normal. Three weeks later, still not feeling well, the doctor gave Snellbaker a stress test, which also came out normal. Although all the tests kept coming back normal, Snellbaker said she "just knew" there was something wrong with her heart and was referred to cardiologist Dr. Menzies at Bassett. She said Dr. Menzies ordered a heart scan, which revealed a significant blockage in her left main artery. Snellbaker's veins were too small to perform angioplasty, so cardiac surgeon Dr. Robert Lancey performed a quadruple bypass. Common symptoms women should be aware of include fatigue, indigestion, shortness of breath and chest pain, said Snellbaker. "Listen to your body," she advised. "When you know something is wrong, get it checked out and take prevention seriously." Dr. Menzies said Snellbaker's case was a "little out of the ordinary." He said stress tests are typically 85 percent accurate, but Snellbaker fell into the 15 percent that the test did not catch. A stress test is usually a good place to start when trying to detect heart disease, said Dr. Menzies. Dr. Menzies said women's threshold for pain is higher than men so women seem to ignore their symptoms for a longer time than men and wait longer to see a doctor. He said this is bad because by then, the disease has already progressed. "You need to talk to your physician about your symptoms," said Dr. Menzies. "If you don't like what they have to say, go see another physician." Dr. Kevin Shortt said woman also do not typically get the chest pain men get with heart disease. "You are really your own best doctor," said Dr. Shortt. "You are responsible for your health. None of us (doctors) can be as good at keeping track of your health as you are." Women are more at risk when undergoing bypass surgery, according to Dr. Shortt. However, he said studies that show this are not comparing apples to apples. Dr. Shortt said bypass surgery started in its infancy as an operation for older men in their 60s. He explained that because the blood vessels of an older man are longer than vessels of a woman, the surgery is performed much more easily on men. Tom Hohensee, of Healthworks, provided results from the Bassett Employee Wellness Screening Program. Twenty to 22 percent of Bassett's employees participated and results were from the years 2006 and 2007. Only 10 percent of the participants were males. Hohensee said the goal is to get 50 percent of Bassett's employees to take part in the health appraisal. The results showed there is "clearly room for improvement" for Bassett employee health, and Hohensee said Bassett needs to invest in employee health prevention. The study showed that 3 percent of the participants were classified as "health nuts" and Bassett employee participants are not eating a lot of fruits and vegetables. Seventy-five percent of the participants didn't eat the proper amount of fruits and vegetables. The percentage of people not getting enough exercise went down from 30 percent to 15 percent. Hohensee said the good news is the amount of smokers has gone down. Seventysix percent of the participants in the study said they do not smoke. The study also showed that Bassett employees are not a terribly stressed out group with the percentage dropping from 5 percent to 2 percent. Ninety-six percent of the participants reported being "generally happy." Hohensee said Americans live their lives like they have one to spare. "We do what feels good, not what is best for us," he said. According to Hohensee, health is largely dependent on how people navigate the four C's, which include consistency, connect, consequences and choices. He also said culture and environment affect the way people live their lives. Simple things such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator can make a huge difference over time, said Hohensee. Hohensee then showed a picture of a person walking a dog from a vehicle, which made everyone chuckle. He said this may seem funny, but just by walking a dog 10 to 15 minutes a day can make a big difference in someone's life. Guest speaker Dr. Merle Myerson, currently with the cardiovascular disease prevention program at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, wrapped up the program with information about preventing cardiovascular disease. Dr. Myerson is also a former Bassett cardiologist. Throughout the day, there were three showings of the "Go Red" event. From the first Bassett "Go Red" event to the present, Chief Operating Officer Bertine C. McKenna, Ph.D., has been the driving force behind bringing the event to life locally. "The goal is to bring to our employees inspirational personal stories, as well as the latest scientific knowledge, from within our own ranks, about heart health, to inspire thoughtful contemplation and personal changes towards a healthier lifestyle," said Dr. McKenna. |
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