Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes
A Utah mom and artist who suffered a massive heart attack did not recognize symptoms because they were not the classic symptoms experienced by many men. She has turned her experience into art to help educate women and raise awareness about their risks of heart disease.
Sandy resident Kimberleigh Collins-Peynaud is partnering with the heart team at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray who helped save her life. They want to get the message out to women that heart disease is their leading cause of death and they need to know their risk factors and be aware of their heart health.
Intermountain Health is displaying Collins-Peynaud's artwork at Intermountain Medical Center and other Intermountain Health hospitals in Utah to raise awareness about heart disease in women and highlight their risk of the disease.
The collection of nine paintings and drawings illustrate Collins-Peynaud's experiences and emotions during her 2023 heart attack from symptoms to treatment to recovery. They will be on display at several Intermountain Health hospitals throughout Utah in February, which is American Heart Month.
"My goal is to use my experience and also my artwork to help raise awareness and to educate women about heart disease to help as many women as possible," said Collins-Peynaud.
Collins-Peynaud, a mother of two, suffered a heart attack on Nov. 11, 2023.
She recalls that day vividly.
It was a Saturday. She woke up late in the day and wasn't feeling well. She recalls feeling an intense pain in her left arm but wasn't sure what it was.
"My arm felt like a dense weight," she said. "My instinct was to massage it, but that didn't help."
She told her husband she was going to lay down.
About 15 minutes later, she felt an intense pain in her back. Then a short time later she felt a huge "weight" on her chest, as if someone was standing on her sternum.
"This all happened in the span of 15 minutes," she recalled. "Because the pain was in different locations and wasn't necessarily radiating from one area to another, I didn't connect that I was experiencing a heart attack. It didn't feel like the classic signs of a heart attack that I had read about. I've since learned that symptoms in women can be very different than in men."
Kent Meredith, MD, an interventional cardiologist at Intermountain Medical Center and senior medical director of the cardiovascular service line for Intermountain Health's Canyon Region, says symptoms of a heart attack in women often differ from symptoms in men.
"As with men, women's most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort," he said. "However, many women describe upper back pressure that feels like squeezing or a rope being tied around them."
"Women may also have other symptoms that are typically less associated with heart attack, such as anxiety, shortness of breath, upset stomach, pain in the shoulder, back or arm, or unusual tiredness and weakness. It can vary from woman to woman and that's often the challenge for women who are experiencing these symptoms to identify it as a heart attack."
A heart attack occurs when blood flow that brings oxygen to the heart muscle is severely reduced or cut off completely. This happens because the arteries that supply the heart with blood can slowly narrow from a buildup of fat, cholesterol, and other substances.
Even though heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women in the United States, many women often chalk up symptoms to less life-threatening conditions such as acid reflux, the flu, or normal aging, according to Amanda Donohue, DO, an Intermountain Health cardiologist.
"The fact is heart disease claims more women's lives than all forms of cancer combined. We're working to get the message out to all women through programs like Go Red for Women that heart disease is their biggest health risk and leading killer, but the good news is that there's a lot that both women and men can do to protect their heart," Donohue said.
Intermountain Health, which cares for more heart patients than any other health system in the region, has teamed with the American Heart Association in Utah to educate women about their risks of heart disease.
Intermountain is hosting several Go Red for Women community events at hospitals, such as displaying Collins-Peynaud's artwork, as part of a month-long education campaign in February.
"It's vital that we help everyone – especially women – in the community understand their risks of heart disease, know the signs and symptoms of a heart attack, and empower them with good information so they can make daily changes to improve their heart health to live their healthiest lives possible," said Dr. Meredith.
For Collins-Peynaud, 44, her experience has been life-changing.
Despite experiencing symptoms during her heart attack, it was several hours before she had her husband take her to an urgent care clinic for more evaluation.
Once there, doctors discovered her heart attack and immediately had her transported by ambulance to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, where Meredith and his team inserted a stent in the coronary arteries leading to her heart, restoring vital blood flow, and saving her life.
"I'm very, very lucky," recalled Collins-Peynaud. "I had a 90 percent blockage, which very few people survive. It's very dangerous and I feel very fortunate to be alive."
Collins-Peynaud is now using her artwork to educate other women as part of her recovery process.
Her art captures her emotions and feelings from the day she experienced her heart attack, to the treatment that saved her life, to her recovery and healing process.
"My artwork has been therapy for me," she noted. "As difficult as this has been, it's inspired me to help other women to save as many lives as possible."
As part of Heart Month, Intermountain Health is offering a Healthy Heart Quiz and other information and resources to help you assess your heart health.
To take the Intermountain Healthy Heart quiz, go to: https://connect.intermountainhealth.org/heart.
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