Mariella Galvez - Heart Attack Survivor

My name is Mariella Galvez, and I am 60 years old. I was born in Iquique, Chile and moved to Seattle in 1977 as a refugee. I am a mother, a grandmother of four beautiful grandsons and an advocate in my community for students in the migrant community.

One Saturday in the fall of 2008, I began feeling very sick, nauseous, and tired. I thought I was getting the flu. I went all day trying to feel better. I had a gathering with my friends and decided to go, thinking that I would feel better later. I collapsed in their bathroom. I was disoriented and had the chills. My friends called the ambulance but I refused, so they took me to emergency room. I didn’t believe this was happening to me - I was having a heart attack. It happened because I was not taking care of my diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol.

Afterward, I followed the doctor’s recommendation and took my medications until I felt I didn’t need them anymore. Then I had a second heart attack in December 2013. This was a pivotal moment when I realized that, if I wanted to live longer, I needed to take care of myself and pay more attention to what my body is telling me. Since my second heart attack, I have been paying more attention to the signs. As women, we tend to forget about how tired and stressed we are and we do not take care of ourselves. I always put myself last.

Since last December I have been getting up at 5:00 am to walk 3 or 4 times a week. I feel so much better and full of energy. There are days when I do not feel like doing it, but I tell myself “It’s good for me.” I just turned 60 and I want to live a longer life so I can enjoy my beautiful grandbabies! I want them to know me and be there for a long time; so I can teach them, tell stories and play with them. They are the love of my life.

To me Living Life Beautifully means loving myself, being healthy and positive, and remembering every day is a blessing - “La vida es bella disfrútala al máximo”!


Original Published Link Mariella Galvez - Heart Attack Survivor

#Others

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Carl's Pancreatic Cancer Story

Image
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=z_dlicog5C8 Carl Verdi devoted his life to education, first as a high school science teacher, and then as a principal. As he was settling into his well-deserved retirement and looking forward to his 70th birthday, he received a diagnosis that changed everything: a complex  pancreatic cancer  and  bile duct cancer . With Carl’s life on the line, his local doctor knew he needed the best possible care and advised him to go to Memorial Sloan Kettering. At MSK, Carl first met with surgeon  William Jarnagin . When Dr. Jarnagin saw Carl’s tumor was in a location too complex to be safely treated with  surgery , he consulted with medical oncologist   Ghassan Abou-Alfa . At the time, there was no standard procedure for treating a cancer like Carl’s, so Dr. Abou-Alfa had to think innovatively. He opted to put Carl on an intensive round of  chemotherapy  to shrink the tumor enough to make i...
Read more

Always the 'tough as nails, nothing can hurt me

Image
I was always the 'tough as nails, nothing can hurt me', kind of guy,” Steve recalls. But stress at work had taken its toll and his weight ballooned from what he calls his “fighting and playing weight.” Steve often didn’t feel well. In November of 2007 he developed a sore throat. “I didn’t pay much attention to it because it seemed like I always caught a cold or lost my voice around that time of year,” the life-long northern Virginia resident says. A week later, he not only experienced a sore throat but felt like something like a piece of food was stuck in his throat. After several trips to his primary care physician, he was referred to an otolaryngologist (also known as an ENT). Using a scope (a small thin camera) to see down his throat, they discovered a golf ball-sized tumor at the base of his tongue. Biopsy results a week later confirmed the worst — Steve had cancer. Stifling Cancer’s Stronghold It took a while for that to sink in...
Read more