She Took Steps for a Healthy Heart.
It was the moment that changed Tulsa native Jan Kendall’s life forever.
In her early 60s, she was walking up a flight of stairs and nearly ended up in an ambulance headed for the hospital. She had extreme shortness of breath and felt exhausted. Those around her almost called for emergency help, as she was laboring so hard after just three flights of stairs. “I was so embarrassed!” Jan remarks.
That day, Jan decided the stairs would no longer defeat her – she began climbing stairs as exercise. Very soon, stair climbing became a passion. “I don’t run stairs, I trudge stairs,” notes Jan. She started with one floor in her office building and then quickly added more until she was walking 50 floors a day during her lunch hour.
STAIR CLIMBING 50 FLIGHTS A DAY
It worked for many years; Jan learned stair climbing is an actual sport she embraced wholeheartedly. She has even climbed the 105 flights of the Willis Tower in Chicago four times – when she was 60, 65, 70 and 75 years old.
PREVENTION IS A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE
OSU Medicine’s cardiothoracic surgeon Kryston Boyer, D.O., applauds Jan’s commitment to healthy living, “I recommend all women of every age follow her example to watch their weight, eat healthy, exercise more, quit smoking, manage diabetes if they have it and keep their cholesterol and blood pressure in check.” Jan was doing it all. But Dr. Boyer is quick to say, “not all risk factors for heart disease are controllable – age and genetics can’t be changed.”
The impact of heart disease was all over Jan‘s family history, impacting generations before and after her. Her son had it, her mother, grandmother, aunts and uncles. While Jan was determined to beat heart disease with stair climbing and healthy living – she underestimated how genetics were impacting her heart. “I learned ignorance doesn’t cure,” Jan adds.
FAMILY HISTORY OF HEART DISEASE MATTERS
Jan’s scheme to beat heart disease had one flaw – her family’s genetic propensity to heart disease. In February 2023, she was run/walking with friends when she felt a “heavy” sensation in her chest. That pressure in her chest soon radiated to her arms, and despite Jan’s efforts to ignore the symptoms, they continued to nag at her.
“Women need to pay attention to their body. The first symptoms of heart disease may be something that is NOT yelling in your ear or blinking in your face, it may be a small voice saying this probably isn’t healthy,” Jan noted.
Dr. Boyer agrees, “Women often miss the symptoms of heart disease because they are more subtle than the classic crushing chest pain men tend to report. Watch for any chest discomfort, pain radiating to the arm, shortness of breath and even nausea and a sense of lightheadedness.”
Jan listened to her body and went to her doctor, who then sent her on to Arash Karnama, D.O., FACC, a cardiologist at OSU Medicine. Dr. Karnama found heart disease that has plagued her family. She required bypass heart surgery in May 2023.
“It’s hard to admit you may have a problem, but it’s much better to be proactive than to find yourself in an ambulance having had a heart attack heading to the operating room with no time to prepare and no time to set yourself up for success. Go ahead, get checked out,” she recommends.
Jan’s fitness regimen did pay off. “She is amazing,” said Dr. Boyer, commenting on her recovery from the heart surgery. Nine months out now, Jan feels no more symptoms and is nearly back to her old self – already planning her next fitness challenge and trip back to Chicago for a fifth time up the Willis Tower.
“Sometimes, I even forget I had heart surgery, it’s just a blip in the road of my life.”
Board-certified experts at OSU Cardiovascular Medicine offer comprehensive, advanced cardiology services including: cardiac CT scan, heart failure management, heart monitoring, heart valve disease, interventional cardiology, cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, preventive screenings and more.
For information, call the OSU Cardiovascular Medicine clinic at 918-582-7711 or visit osumedicine.com.