Marlies is a 59 year-old cardiac bypass recipient from Vancouver, B.C.
Given her family history of heart disease, by the time she turned forty she started keeping a close watch on her cholesterol levels and going for an annual stress test.
Six years ago Marlies’ cholesterol suddenly shot up, prompting her cardiologist to recommend an angiogram. Marlies’s angiogram revealed symptoms that required triple bypass surgery, which she had at the age of 52.
“I guess I’m one of the lucky ones,” Marlies admits. “I could have been like my mother; she suffered a heart attack while out shopping one day and died at the age of 61.”
Marlies was one of a few bypass patients in B.C. to have her surgery performed on a beating heart, a progressive procedure that allowed her heart to continue beating during surgery without the aid of a heart and lung machine. As a result, her recovery time was dramatically reduced and she went home three days after open heart surgery.
Within four months of her surgery, Marlies began volunteering as a peer counselor in the pre-op cardiac department at St. Paul's Hospital. She is also a member of the Healthy Heart program.
“It’s important to put a human face on the disease,” says Marlies. “I want other women to be aware that heart disease is the number one cause of death among women – listen to your body and don’t dismiss any small warnings — early detection can save your life – if it can happen to me, it can happen to you.”
It's important to put a human face on the disease.
