Like many women, Margaret Jones had no symptoms of heart disease. She went for a routine stress test, but the results were abnormal compared to her scores from six years prior. Her doctor said she had a 90% blockage and needed open-heart surgery immediately. She was taken by ambulance to Piedmont Atlanta.

Surgeons used a vein from Jones’ leg to bypass her blocked artery.

“I was still in a little bit of shock at this time because it was just totally unexpected, especially because I’ve always lived a healthy lifestyle,” she says. “I go to the gym four or five times a week, I eat fish twice a week, so it was a big shock to me.”

A family history of heart disease

“I didn’t really have any symptoms, but my parents both died of heart attacks,” she says. “As the doctor said, ‘When there’s heart disease in the family that trumps everything else.’ So it didn’t really matter that I was going to the gym four or five times a week, or how healthy my diet was. The fact that there was heart disease in my family was the biggest issue.”

Jones’ surgeon told her that heart disease is a “silent killer” of women because they often have no symptoms.

“It’s important for women to have regular screenings,” she says.

Jones’ stress test likely helped save her life.  

One in three women will die from heart disease. Talk to the women you love about Piedmont’s $100 heart screening. Click here to learn more.

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