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Showing Gratitude for WomenHeart Champions

Showing Gratitude for WomenHeart Champions

As we head into a season of thanks, WomenHeart would like to express appreciation to our amazing volunteers. This has been a trying year for most, but through it all WomenHeart Champions have continued to support our mission to improve the health and quality of life...

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Reflections on a Legacy

Reflections on a Legacy

With the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I wanted to use her words to narrate my own journey to WomenHeart as well as our collective experiences over the last several months.  My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant – Be your own person. Be...

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Listen to Your Heart

Listen to Your Heart

Our country is in a pandemic and it’s causing fear. Are you afraid to go to the hospital? Don’t be - especially if you are experiencing heart attack symptoms. I survived a heart attack in 2018. Despite having all the warning signs, I made excuses for them because I...

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A Prescription for Vitamins O and R

A Prescription for Vitamins O and R

Wouldn’t it be great if we could bottle optimism, as Vitamin O, and resilience, as Vitamin R, for daily doses? Whether you are recovering from a heart incident, COVID-19, or just trying to stay healthy during this pandemic, optimism and resilience are needed in...

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Living with Heart Failure, My Heart Story

Living with Heart Failure, My Heart Story

When heart failure struck, I was dumbfounded. I never felt any pain. I was the picture of health. My father and uncle both died of heart failure, but we always attributed it to excess weight, smoking, and alcohol – none of which were part of my life. But then I...

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COVID-19:The Great Equalizer

COVID-19:The Great Equalizer

COVID-19 will go down as many things in the history books. I watch the case numbers climb and the stock market numbers dive. But for me, it has been a great equalizer. Since my heart failure diagnosis, I have been the one staying home, slowing down, appreciating life....

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The Art with Hidden Risk

The Art with Hidden Risk

It was a brisk morning in February at The Oculus, the imposing white structure that truly looks risen from the ashes of the World Trade Center site. After taking in a silent breath to pay my respects, I entered and immediately identified the energized gathering in the...

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Heart Disease is Anything but Typical

Heart Disease is Anything but Typical

[youtube video_id="uB1lRJuUeNQ" caption="darlene's WomenHeart PSA"] I am a six-time marathoner who was diagnosed with advanced heart failure while training for a race that should have been my seventh. I was a whole/healthy foods vegan at the time of my diagnosis, I...

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Treating Women for Heart Valve Disease

Treating Women for Heart Valve Disease

It has been well established that female patients with aortic stenosis – a type of heart valve disease – present at typically older ages. When considering the standard treatment option of surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR), older age is an important factor...

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