Fenton Woman Survives Surprise Heart Attack

A busy wife and mom of two young children, Fenton resident Lorie Thielen was looking forward to spending Christmas Eve with her family seven years ago when an ache started in her chest and a nervous anxiousness swept over her like she was ready to jump out of her skin. The feeling quickly turned downright painful, like an elephant was sitting on her.

This couldn’t be a heart attack, she thought, mentally assessing her symptoms.

“I had no specific pains, no pains in the arms or legs, but something wasn’t feeling right,” said Thielen.

She said she had experienced prior chest pain that prompted a stress test and other tests, including a heart cauterisation three days earlier.

“When I started having the pain, I thought what’s going on now?” she said.

It was a moderate heart attack. Thielen was 44 years old.

While most people associate a radiating pain on the left side of the body with a heart attack, there are many other symptoms and they can differ between men and women.

In fact, women often present with symptoms like fatigue and weakness, said Abed Osman, M.D., interventional cardiologist at Genesys Heart Institute.

“Bringing awareness of these symptoms is important,” said Dr. Osman, adding that heart disease is the number 1 killer of U.S. women.

Go Red for Women, an American Heart Association initiative held each February helps to get this message out as well. The goal is to increase awareness about heart disease in women, encourage women to discover their risk for heart disease and take action to reduce their risk factors by leading a heart healthy lifestyle all year long.

Although heart issues are part of her family history, Thielen never thought that she would have problems at such a young age.

“I almost had to have bypass surgery,” she said.

Thielen spent a week in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) at Genesys after she had stents inserted to open her arteries.

As she recovered, her family was by her side. Although the kids were 3 and 7 at the time, they refused to open their presents until Thielen could join the family at home. She was released from CICU on New Year’s Eve.

In the days, weeks and years that have followed, Thielen has changed her lifestyle. Although she had a healthy diet before, she has incorporated even more salads into her meals, become diligent about making and keeping doctor appointments, established a regular walking routine and works hard to stay positive.

Thielen is also more in tune with her body’s signals. She is not as likely to dismiss pain and she appreciates the changes she has had to make to stay healthy for her husband and children, now 10 and 14 years old.

“I give credit to her for her hard work,” said Osman, Thielen’s physician since 2004. He added that today’s medical technology is impressive, but must be coupled with a commitment from patients to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Genesys Heart Institute works closely with area primary care physicians and hospital departments to coordinate efforts and identify risk factors early, said Osman, adding that Genesys has developed a strong relationship with the community to encourage regular screenings and distribute prevention information about heart-healthy choices.

“Coronary disease is progressive. It is a formidable enemy to fight,” he said.