Anna Scrivener’s heart issues began as many health issues do, with no warning outside of a family history. Fortunately for Anna, she had just started a new job working for a cardiologist.
“I was in the right place at the right time,” Anna says of her good fortune. It was September 2011 when Anna’s new employer recognized something wasn’t right.
“That was a life changing day for me,” she shares. “It could have been my last day.”
Instead, it was the beginning of a journey. Anna had quadruple bypass surgery and six months later received a stent.
Adelle Ballard was there for her sister Anna during this time. However, she was unaware she was beginning a heart journey of her own.
“Watching and experiencing the bypass surgery of my sister, I never thought I would one day be a heart patient,” Adelle says.
A self-described “football granny,” Adelle had always been active. She had worked with major sports teams in Chicago and had settled back home in western Kentucky where she established her popular catering company, Adelle’s Canning and Catering Made Perfect.
Adelle was not prepared for the burning sensation she felt in her chest in February 2019 that led her to Mercy Health – Lourdes Hospital.
“I am a person who is always on the go, never letting small symptoms bother me,” Adelle reveals. “Well God said this time ‘I have to slow you down.’”
Adelle’s testing indicated a blockage which required two stents. Just two month’s later, Anna had four additional stents of her own.
The two sisters, who had lost their father, Thad, in 1976 to a heart attack in his sleep. Now, they have found themselves challenged to improve their heart health to avoid a similar fate.
As part of their respective recoveries, Anna and Adelle joined our cardiac rehabilitation program. The program consists of 36 one-hour sessions that the sisters credit for changing their lives.
“(Heart issues) can happen to any of us, at any given time,” Adelle says. “What I suggest to everyone (experiencing symptoms) is go then, not later, because later may not ever come. Now that I’ve have completed my 36 sessions of cardiac rehab, I’m feeling good.”
Adelle’s sister agrees that lifestyle changes and cardiac rehabilitation have provided them both with a new lease on life.
“Eat right, exercise and listen to your body,” is Anna’s advice to others.
Learn more about the heart and vascular care services we offer at Mercy Health.
