Sunday, April 15, 2012

What is SCAD?


Back in September, I told you about my life-long best friend Michele, who suffered a heart attack. You can read more about it here. I think, by nature, heart attacks always come as a shock, but all the more so for my fit and healthy 37 year old friend. I am happy to report that now, 6 months later, she is doing well! It has been a long road to recovery for her, both physically and emotionally, and she continues to adjust and heal, but we are all so grateful to have her with us.

After much testing and debate, Michele was diagnosed with SCAD, which stands for spontaneous coronary artery dissection. This is a rare condition, where one of the coronary arteries bursts, causing an interruption of blood flow to the heart tissue. The result is heart attack or sudden death. The average SCAD victim is 42 years old, with over 80% of the victims being women. While the majority of cases have no underlying risk factors at all, 30% of the cases occur post-partum.

In other words....SCAD targets young moms like many of us reading this blog.

On May 5, the Hubs and I will winging our way to Chicago to join Michele and her husband for the first annual SCAD Fundraiser walk in Naperville, IL! We are so happy do what we can to support research to shed some light on this deadly condition. We are collecting donations in support of SCAD research. I would appreciate if you would click on the below link and make a donation! Any amount can make a big difference as they work to find a way to save lives. If everyone who follows this blog just made a $10 donation by forgoing ONE yard of fabric on their next fabric order, together we could raise over $10,000. Wouldn't that be something? Maybe the life we save could be yours.

https://www.signmeup.com/site/Services/fw.aspx?g=995e60ef-8bbd-42a6-8492-55f52bd6200e

Thanks so much for your support!

7 comments:

Svetlana said...

Oh, thanks for letting us know. I live in Naperville so I'm off to check out their website and hopefully I can participate in the walk, too. My kids love to do 1 mile races, so a walk might be a nice change for us all.

Kritta22 said...

Oh my goodness!! How scary! Thanks for sharing! I'm off to check out the site!

Lee said...

This is so scary and sad. But what a relief that your friend is okay! I donated!

Little Island Quilting said...

Tis done

Shay said...

I was wondering about your friend and how she was doing. Thanks for giving us the update.

bethanndodd said...

So happy to hear she is healing well. Hope the walk is a success. Now I am off to call my bestie, just because. Smiles~Beth

Magnolia Designs said...

Love you Michele, so glad you are doing better. Let's all get together soon...made my donation. Hope y'all have a great time at the walk. We will be thinking of you! Kathy