During a checkup, Sue Johannsen visits with patient Rita Schulte about the importance of prevention and staying healthy.

As a healthcare provider, Sue Johannsen knows all of the signs and symptoms of cardiovascular disease. But, she didn't associate her own symptoms with the No. 1 killer of women. When she started feeling tired and experienced shortness of breath when climbing the steps at Huron Clinic, where she works as a certified physician assistant and geriatric nurse practitioner, she brushed it off to other causes.

"I blamed it on stress," Johannsen explains. She certainly had plenty of it – driving 45 miles to be at work by 7 a.m. after completing horse chores on her ranch just outside Miller, S.D. Additionally, her husband, Don, had recently been diagnosed with a brain tumor.

"My father developed coronary disease late in life, but I didn't have any reason to believe I'd inherited the problem," Johannsen says.

"I had noticed my heart would race when I exerted myself, and I had a pain on the left side of my neck," Johannsen continues. "But I'd had some disc problems in the past and blamed the pain on that."

Plus, she took good care of herself and rationalized: "I maintain a healthy weight, watch what I eat and stay active. My blood pressure and cholesterol readings are always right on target."

A Hidden Problem
After a few months when she was really struggling with the fatigue, Johannsen consulted with her primary physician, Dr. Janice McKenney, who also practices at Huron Clinic. Again, all the traditional lab tests came back clean – no indications of cardiac disease.

That's when Johannsen received a memo from Huron Regional Medical Center's imaging department asking practitioners to recommend test patients for the virtual coronary angiography capability of the hospital's new 64-slice volume CT scanner.

"I saw the note and asked Janice if she thought I should consider it," Johannsen says, still not believing her symptoms could be indications of heart disease.

This image shows the blockage (see arrow) found in Johannsen's left main heart artery during a virtual coronary CT scan using HRMC's 64-slice VCT scanner.

In January 2007, Johannsen had the scan, which showed one of her main heart arteries was 70 to 85 percent blocked. The next day she was on her way to see Dr. Kevin Vaska, a cardiologist with Sioux Falls Cardiology. Dr. Vaska performed an angiogram and inserted two stents to open the blockages.

"The incident taught me the importance of listening to my body," Johannsen says. "It's also made me more attentive to my patients – more cautious, listening to what they say about how they've been feeling."

Johannsen will share more of her personal story and provide information about women's heart disease at HRMC's fourth annual Go Red for Your Heart luncheon on Feb. 21, 2008 (click here for more information).

"Heart disease presents differently in women. You just can't assume that it's not cardiovascular," says Johannsen.

"If you've had any changes in your stamina, your heart rate or with pain, you need to tell your healthcare provider. If they don't listen – you need to yell!"