Susan Lucci almost lost her life life after a heart attack.
“I don’t think I realized what an emergency it was until they told me what an emergency it was,” she admitted to ET.
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The 72-year-old is now spreading a message for other women who may not be paying close enough attention to their heart health.
“I had some mild pressure on my chest last October a couple of times and it went away, and because I’ve never had a health issue I thought it was nothing,” she recalled. “And then the third time it happened, I was shopping for a birthday present for a girlfriend in a boutique and it was overwhelming. It felt like an elephant pressing on my chest.”
“I sat down in the boutique to think what was going on,” Lucci explained. “‘Could this be something? Oh no, I have way too many things I have to do. I can’t do this,’ But the manager of the boutique — I was so lucky — also had a degree in nursing.”
The actress recalls seeing something on TV that explained the difference between women and men suffering from symptoms of a heart attack, which them prompted her to think twice about what she was going through.
“When she asked me how I was and I told her she was very calm and said, ‘Susan, my car’s right outside. I can drive you to St. Francis hospital,’ which is the heart hospital near where I live in New York,” she added.
“It turns out I had a 90 percent blockage in my main artery and a 75 percent blockage in an adjacent artery, and so they told me the next day, ‘You just avoided a widow-maker,’” she continued. “I didn’t know! I had no idea.”
Now, she’s encouraging those to get familiar with signs and symptoms and asking for women “to put yourself on your to do list.”
“And pay attention,” she said. “You know, we think sometimes, ‘Maybe they’ll think I’m overreacting or being too dramatic. It can’t be anything.’ It’s better to go to the hospital and get it checked out. They’re glad you came.”
It looks like things are looking up now that she can admit to feeling “fantastic” after focusing on her health the last few months after her scare. She’s also keeping busy after adding three new TV movies for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, which are currently in pre-production.
“It’s the first time that I’m acting as executive producer as well,” she said. “So, I’ve been involved in the creative process since the very, very beginning. I’m very excited!”
