heartfelt change

story by | sheri kleinsasser stockmoe

Janie Galegher Clow and her daughter, Dani Parkos Fluge, were familiar with the statistics related to women and heart disease. But like many of us, they never truly reflected on how those statistics related directly to them until they were forced to.

July 17, 2008 Dani was awoken by the familiar chime of her cell phone, but it was 3:16 am. Without thinking or really waking up she snatched it off the nightstand before it would disturb anyone else. It was her step dad Rick…what happened…she stopped breathing, the paramedics are here and their working on her now…WHAT!…they think she’s had a heart attack… but she’s only 54!

Rick, Janie’s husband of 13 years, worked an early shift that started at 4:00 am that unforgettable morning. Before leaving he climbed back into bed to say goodbye, when abruptly Janie sat up struggling to take a breath. Her lifeless body fell back on the bed and laid there unresponsive.

“My husband heard me take my last breath,” Janie said. “I died in my own bedroom.”

Rick immediately called 911 and, following the dispatchers instructions, performed CPR until paramedics arrived just four minutes later—a critical factor.

Dani rushed to MeritCare Hospital to find her mom in the cardiac intensive care unit, sedated, on a ventilator and packed in ice to prevent brain damage due to lack of oxygen. It was terrifying. The doctors were very concerned. A heart attack involves the blockage of blood flow to the heart. Janie had actually suffered cardiac arrest in which her heart suddenly stopped working. “I’m one of the lucky ones because they were able to bring me back,” Janie said. It is estimated that 95% of people who suffer cardiac arrest in a nonmedical setting don’t survive.

No Time To Slow Down

As a single mom, Janie strived to find balance raising Dani while being a successful florist for more than 33 years. Easy to do, Janie put herself on the back burner much of the time. “I didn’t have time for myself so I thought,” Janie stated as a matter of fact. “I think back to how driven I was to get things done that I would ignore all the signs and just keep going and going. All of those things that once seemed important then, no longer carry the same weight,” she explains.

Having now been educated on the signs and symptoms of a heart attack and heart failure, Janie recalls many times she didn’t feel well, her left arm and shoulder would ache, or her heart would beat erratically. She even remembers not being allowed to participate in a blood drive because after taking her pulse they would only allow her to give blood with a doctor’s written permission. Still, she never talked to her doctor about any of it.

Janie also now sees the other factors in her life such as her family history, smoking, and suffering from acid reflux and hyperthyroidism, having gone through early menopause, periodontal disease, stress of running a business and sleep apnea all predisposed her to heart disease. ”I’ve been told I actually suffered many heart attacks over the years,” Janie shares knowing now her heart health should have been on her to-do list long ago.

today’s new normal

Janie spent 19 days in the hospital and had a surgical procedure to implant a pacemaker and defibrillator in her heart which insures its beating pattern remains consistent and if needed can give the heart an electrical shock. Once she came home things were far from normal for the independent, always on the