The Young and the Restless actress Melissa Claire Egan is opening up about her shocking heart disease diagnosis after being diagnosed at the age of 44.
Egan, best known for playing Chelsea on the CBS soap since 2011, took to Instagram on Thursday to share the latest news about her health in hopes of inspiring others to take charge of their health..
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“I wanted to share that in late January I was diagnosed with Coronary heart disease,” she began her lengthy post, which came in partnership with the American Heart Association. “Thanks to early detection, and medicine, I will be okay!”
While Egan is “a private person,” her health scare “seemed TOO IMPORTANT NOT TO SHARE,” especially for women, as cardiovascular disease is the “number 1 killer of women, causing 1 in 3 deaths each year.”
Egan was first diagnosed with heart disease after her doctor detected some abnormal bloodwork that caused them to send her to a cardiologist. “Through a Heart calcium scan he found plaque in my LAD artery (known as the ‘widow maker’),” she wrote. “It’s mild so far and tends to be genetic, but rare for a 44 year old woman.”
“This could have caused the plaque to chip off and cause a fatal heart attack or stroke any time over the next 5-10 years, maybe even sooner,” she explained.
The night after being diagnosed, Egan recalled lying with her and husband Mat Katrosar’s two sons — 4-year-old Caden and 2-year-old Jake — “feeling so grateful to God and my doctors that I found this early.”
“But I couldn’t stop thinking about all the other women(and men) that might have this disease and not know it,” she continued. “It is under-tested and under-recognized.”
Encouraging other women to ask their doctors for a coronary heart disease risk evaluation, Egan urged, “We all are so good about getting our mammograms every year, but we don’t check our heart health. It is imperative that you do!”
She concluded, “Let’s all band together, focus on our heart health, and live longer!!!”
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