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BONNIE PETERSON IS the kind of storyteller who captivates you by her calm and soothing matter-of-fact delivery. The slim 63-year-old with twinkling eyes is soft-spoken as she recalls her drive to work Tuesday, April 28, 1998.

“I was driving down the connector at 7:30 in the morning. All of a sudden at the Franklin Road exit, I started experi-encing heartburn,” she says. “I remember thinking, this is the most incredible heart-burn I’ve ever had in my entire life, and I couldn’t remember what I would have eaten that would have caused this kind of heart-burn.” Just as that thought was processing, Bonnie started sweating and felt a pain in her left arm.

It was the kind of sensation that says: “This is not a drill. This is a real fire.” Bonnie, who worked for a doctor, was familiar with the signs of a heart attack, but after it occurred to her that she could be having one, her next thought was surprising: “I don’t have time for this.”

By the time Bonnie got to her office downtown just minutes later, things had got-ten progressively worse. Subcon-sciously wanting someone to assure her that every-thing was OK, Bonnie called a friend in a nearby office and shared her symptoms. But everything was not OK. Bonnie’s friend, a nurse, said, “Bonnie, hang up the phone. I’m calling 911. You’re having a heart attack.” That and the feeling that someone was pressing on her chest are the last things Bonnie remembers that morning.

Fast-forward 13 years. Bonnie is one of Dr. Antonio López’ star patients. Dr. López is Director of Preventive Cardiol-ogy and Cardiovascular Rehabilitation at

Surprise attack

BONNIE PETERSON THOUGHT SHE WAS TOO BUSY TO HEED THE SIGNS—BUT HER HEART HAD OTHER PLANS. One woman’s story of survival

KNOW THE SIGNS

Call 911 if you or a loved one is having any of these symptoms:

• Feeling pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest.

• Having discomfort in one or both arms, the back, the neck, the jaw or the stomach. • Feeling short of breath. • Feeling nauseated or light-headed or breaking out in a cold sweat.

Get medical help even if symptoms disappear after a few minutes.

Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center as well as director of the Lipid Clinic and Chair of the Department of Cardiology. According to Dr. López, the fact that Bonnie had a heart attack at 50 isn’t a sur-prise. Serious heart disease runs in Bonnie’s family; her father died of a heart attack when he was just 38 years old. Dr. López notes that when people have heart attacks in the family, there’s likely something genetic that could predispose them to plaque buildup. Add to that the fact that Bonnie had been exhibiting the signs of cardiac dis-tress for weeks: She was tired and had very little energy—symptoms Bonnie wrongly assumed were from stress or simple fatigue. Bonnie says Dr. López treated her like an individual—he listened to her and explained what was happening and why. Dr. López also got Bonnie on the track to staying healthy and advised Bonnie to encourage her two daughters to be checked for heart disease. Now 42-year-old Susan and 41-year-old Marnie are patients of Dr. López as well.

J. Antonio G. López, MD, FACC, FAHA, FNLA, Medical Director, Cardiology Services, Saint Alphonsus

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