Neighbors: Marge Martin

The warning signs were clear. For two days, Marge Martin felt strange numbness in her arms, pain in her jaw and neck and what she calls spasms in her chest. She was constantly exhausted and felt pressure around her chest and back, but she chose to ignore it, only treating her symptoms with over-the-counter medicines.

Finally, on the second night, things became too intense to ignore. Martin was vomiting and experiencing intense pain in her chest, jaw and gums.

“The pain was unbelievable,” Martin says. “On a scale of one to 10, it was a 15. I woke up my husband and told him, ‘You need to call 911.’”

Martin had been experiencing a heart attack for two days without even realizing it. She was taken to Doctors Hospital, where doctors rushed her to the cardiac catheterization lab. Her heart had 100% blockage in one valve and 50% blockage in the other three, and she was given four stints.

That was December 2011.

Now, only months later, Martin is still in recovery, but she’s taking steps to make sure she stays healthy. She quit smoking, learned to manage her stress better and is more conscious of what she eats.

“Looking back, I can see just how bad it was,” Martin says. “Whenever I’m tempted to have a cigarette, I think about that pain, and that stops me.”

She’s also quick to thank the staff at Doctors Hospital for their quick decision-making.

“My doctor, Gino Sedillo and his assistant, Stacey Royce, were incredible,” she says. “I couldn’t have received better care.”

Each year, more women die from heart disease than from all forms of cancer combined, but for some reason, this silent killer is often overlooked.

Today, Martin hopes to bring more awareness to the issue. After her heart attack, she agreed to share her story through a video that will be shown at this year’s Go Red for Women Luncheon.

The American Heart Association hosts the luncheon each year in an effort to educate women about heart health while raising money to fight heart disease.

“People just need to be more aware of the symptoms,” Martin says. “I’m just like everyone else — I never thought this would happen to me.”