Dancing My Way Back to Health
By Sharell Weeams, as told to Lisa Fields
It was 3 a.m., and I was swing dancing with friends, laughing and having fun. We went every week. The music usually energized me, but that November 2021 night felt different. Halfway through a song, I felt exhausted, then dizzy. Next, everything faded to black.
Later, I learned that I’d had a heart attack on the dance floor, then went into cardiac arrest. Luckily, three of my dancer friends are nurses. They started CPR and used an AED to shock me back to life. In the emergency room, doctors found four artery blockages. At 42, I needed quadruple bypass surgery.
For years, doctors had advised me to take better care of my health so that I might avoid a situation like this, but I hadn’t taken them seriously.
When I was 25, I was diagnosed with extremely high LDL cholesterol. I didn’t realize the gravity, even when my doctor said that none of her other patients had such high numbers. My LDL was 514 mg/dL, when it should have been below 100 mg/dL.
At the time, fast food was a daily staple, and I wasn’t getting much exercise. I also had a family history of heart disease. My doctor prescribed medication to help lower my LDL number.
I wasn’t consistent about taking my meds. I usually stopped when I switched jobs and got new health insurance. Sometimes, I’d go two years between prescriptions, which the doctors didn’t like. One said, “Sharell, it’s not a matter of if something’s going to happen. It’s when something will happen,” and I cried.
Life went on that way, with me taking medications sporadically, not really eating healthily or getting much exercise, other than the nights I went dancing. Then the pandemic hit, and I became even more sedentary.
In November 2020, my chest kept burning, but not like heartburn. Eventually, I sought help via telehealth. The provider said it might be heartburn, but I should investigate because of my family history. All I heard was “probably heartburn” – I ignored the rest. A few months later, a doctor prescribed a cholesterol-lowering medication, but I skipped the follow-up appointment. Less than a year later, I had the heart attack.
My heart attack was a wake-up call. I’m now committed to taking medications for the rest of my life. I know that ignoring the problem won’t delay a cardiac event.
After recovering from bypass surgery, I went to cardiac rehab to learn heart-healthy habits. I’ve switched to a mostly plant-based diet with fish, which was a huge overhaul. I used to eat lots of red meat. Now, I don’t even bring it into the house.
When you exercise at cardiac rehab, they hook you up to a heart monitor to see if you have any issues. Getting the green light gave me the confidence to go out dancing again. There’s no better form of cardio than dancing with a partner who swings you up and down a slot. Knowing that it’s good for my heart makes it feel even better.
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For more information on this health topic, visit heart.org/LDL.
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