May 22, 2000 — Betty White isn’t one to let colds, aches, or abdomen, back, jaw, or neck.
Because they may not perceive their pain as a heart attack, women often don’t get to the hospital in time. Or they may describe their pain as a backache or stomachache, potentially leading the diagnosis in another direction, Goldberg says.
One solution may be to raise women’s awareness that they, like men, are at blood clot-busting medications and -opening surgical procedures can restore blood flow to damaged heart tissue, Goldberg says. How can women make sure they get this treatment? By not being timid. Describe your symptoms clearly, ask for testing if it isn’t offered, and be sure you understand all your treatment options, she says.
The Long Road to Recovery
After Betty White was finally diagnosed with a heart attack, her doctors put a stent (a small, wire-mesh tube) into an artery supplying her heart. The stent holds the damaged artery open, so as to save as much of the remaining live heart tissue as possible. “It’s been a long haul since then,” White says. She doesn’t have the get up and go she once did, perhaps because of the reduced amount of oxygen-rich blood traveling through her body, says Goldberg.
But White hopes her story will help other women be on the lookout for heart attacks and have the courage to speak up when they feel something has been missed. “I have the feeling there are other women just like me all over the country,” she says. “Sadly, a lot of them didn’t live to tell the tale. So I’m speaking for all of us: This just has to stop.”