Written by: Kymberlie McNicholas, Guest Writer Brainz Magazine
On February 15, 2022, I woke up early because I heard that snow might be falling in Southlake Tahoe, California. I was on vacation with my parents at the time. I knew it would be a dream come true for my mom to be able to watch the snowfall before we set off for home.
She never got to see it.
When my mom got out of bed, she immediately collapsed to her knees. When I ran into the room, she looked up at me and said, “Kymmie, I don’t know what happened. “I yelled for my dad to call 911. Before they arrived, she shook her head then rested it on my shoulder without another word. She was gone.
We had no idea that she had a life-threatening issue. Her cardiologist the week before told us that her heart was healthy with only a few pieces of plaque, but nothing serious. He attributed her high blood pressure and tachycardia (high pulse rate) to pain spinal and sciatica issues, which echoed what the emergency room doctor had written in his report the week prior. I had even asked her cardiologist if her high blood pressure and high pulse rate could exacerbate her thoracic aneurysm they found back in August. To which he replied, “It could, so it’s important to get this under control. “
During that appointment, he never performed a standard check of her heart, carotids, and abdomen with his stethoscope. If he did, she might be alive today. It turns out that my mom had a second aneurysm that had gone completely undetected, which was much easier to uncover in a standard clinical appointment with the use of a stethoscope. The aneurysm was in her abdomen. What if the doctor the week before had checked for a bruit, meaning turbulent flow in her abdomen with merely his stethoscope during that appointment? What about the emergency room doctor the week before when she was complaining about back pain? All he did was an x-ray and gave her a muscle relaxer, telling her it was likely a pulled muscle and to just go home and take it easy.
My mom had textbook symptoms of an abdominal aneurysm. Yet two doctors brushed them off without the simplest touch of a stethoscope.
Fast heartbeat.
Nausea (she had started eating less during the month prior)
Shortness of breath.
Sudden, severe pain in lower back.
Losing my mom really hit me hard not only because she’s my mom but also because I save life and limb for a living. I run The Way To My Heart, Inc. It’s a nonprofit 501(c)(3) supporting 11,000 patients with one of the most debilitating disease most have never heard of, yet impacts 1 in 5 over age 60, known as peripheral artery disease (P.A.D.), which is restricted blood flow in mainly the leg arteries due to plaque buildup. Three-in-five heart attack sufferers have P.A.D., but most don’t know it until it’s in advanced stages and heart attack, stroke, and amputation are eminent. I have saved thousands of lives through my educational, high-touch advocacy, and support services, even my dad when he was on the verge of a heart attack and I advocated for advanced testing for proper diagnosis and treatment.
I couldn’t save my mom, though.
That haunts me still six months later.
All I know is to channel my pain to help others.
That’s why I set out to save others from this preventable, unfortunate tragedy.
I’ve raised a fund separately, within The Way To My Heart in my mom’s name, for a campaign to raise awareness of the importance of a full vascular assessment that includes listening for an aneurysm.
The campaign is called, “C.H.A.T.”
C.H.A.T. is an acronym which stands for:
C, Carotids. The carotid arteries, located in your neck, are the main blood vessels that carry blood and oxygen to your brain. Plaque build-up can narrow those vessels. If plaque breaks off and flows up to your brain, it can cause a stroke. Your physician will use a stethoscope to listen for a bruit (Brew-ee), which is turbulent blood flow. Follow-up testing may include a duplex ultrasound.
H, Heart. The heart plays an important role in pumping blood and nutrients, including oxygen, throughout the body. Plaque can develop in the coronary arteries and restrict blood flow, starving the heart of oxygen. This can cause chest, pain, shortness of breath, angina, or heart attack. The heart can also develop trouble with electrical signals that coordinate the heartbeat, and structural problems such as with heart valves, which keep blood flowing in the right direction. "Leaky valves," which don't close properly, can put strain on the heart. Your physician will listen to your heart for abnormal sounds, check your heart rate, pulse, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation using various tools. Follow-up testing may include an ECG, stress test, CT scan, echocardiogram, and heart catheterization.
A, Abdomen. Large arteries critical in supplying blood flow to major organs such as your kidneys, stomach, liver, spleen, bowels, and then into the legs are found in your abdomen (e.g., aorta, iliac, renal arteries). Plaque build-up in these arteries may be silent until damage to those organs occurs. Your doctor may listen with a stethoscope for abnormal sounds in the abdomen, such as with turbulent flow. Your doctor may also feel for a pulsating aorta as it could signal an aneurysm, which is a balloon-like bulge in the blood vessel caused by weakening in all three layers of the vessel wall. Screening is critical because an aneurysm can grow undetected with the first symptom being a life-threatening rupture. Risk factors include heredity, age, smoking, high blood pressure, and hyperlipidemia. Follow-up testing may include an ultrasound, CT scan, and MRA.
T, Toes. The health of arteries in your legs and feet can indicate risk for heart attack, stroke and amputation. If you have plaque build-up in your leg arteries, called Peripheral Artery Disease (P.A.D.), it's likely to be happening elsewhere in your body, especially your heart. Many patients with P.A.D. have no symptoms yet remain at high risk for bad outcomes. That is why screening is recommended in high-risk patients, especially ones with diabetes and/or a history of smoking. Your doctor may ask about leg cramps or weakness when you walk, also if you have neuropathy, numbness, or tingling. They may also examine your skin for discoloration or wounds and feel for pulses. Follow-up tests may include an Ankle-Brachial Index (ABI) Test and ultrasound.
It’s important to say to the doctor during every annual appointment, and especially during every cardiology appointment, “Hey Doctor, let’s C.H.A.T.” Every vascular-related ailment can be managed if caught early, many with basic lifestyle modifications such as diet and exercise. With moderate disease, minimally invasive options are also available to treat. For my Mom, since her aneurysm went undetected due to the lack of effort by her doctors to simply use their stethoscope to check for a bruit in her abdomen, despite textbook symptoms, her fate was sealed.
But it’s not too late for you if you are reading this now.
It’s you, now, I hope to save. You, your family, and your friends.
Having such a personal connection to this campaign has been powerful. Cardiovascular Systems, Inc, the developer of devices used in the treatment of blocked arteries, and its advocacy campaign Take A Stand Against Amputation, offered to partner with me on this campaign and is offering C.H.A.T. posters to all clinics free-of-charge in order to encourage both physicians and patients to have the conversation about vascular health as early detection equals early treatment and possibly a longer, better quality of life. In our first few months out of the gate we’ve already led to dozens of documented patients who’ve discovered vascular issues at early stages with now plenty of time to take action to slow progression of disease.
Turning tragedy into success is nothing new to entrepreneurship. Some of the best ideas come from moments of adversity. It’s all about filling a need. If you have a personal need, it drives you so much more with intense, deep-down passion to persevere. I’m certainly on a mission to save life & limb. So, not only should you use this as a kick-in-the-butt to stay on top of your health, but also to take steps of your own to create the change you want to see as I did. I just wish I could’ve done it sooner to have my mom be by my side when I find my perfect groom, get married, and have children of my own. Hopefully, this tragedy will turn into triumph for you.
Kymberlie McNicholas, Guest Writer Brainz Magazine
Kym McNicholas is an Emmy Award-winning journalist turned life & limb-saving activist providing education, high-touch-advocacy, and support to more than 11,000 patients around the world through her non-profit The Way To My Heart, Inc. She switched careers after covering a story about a debilitating vascular condition known as Peripheral Artery Disease, restricted blood flow in the legs due to plaque build-up, where she learned patients required additional education, high-touch advocacy, and real-time support. She uses her more than 20 years of experience in media to raise awareness that early diagnosis and early appropriate treatment could save life & limb. Prior to The Way To My Heart, Kym helped to revolutionize online video journalism as a pioneer of digital video content at the turn of the century as one of the first web-centric video financial/tech reporters. She also continued to break ground in television becoming the first female sports director/main sports anchor in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Throughout her tenure as a journalist, she has acquired breadth and depth that transcends across many genres, making her one of the most diverse reporters of her time. She has experience as an assigned beat reporter, covering sports, business, energy, politics, finance, technology, weather, sports, healthcare, and technology, all in-depth, at various points in her career from Comcast Sports to Forbes Magazine to Fox News Channel as a Weekly contributor, weighing in on current event issues impacting the world.
Her diverse background and extensive experience in Silicon Valley covering innovation at key inflection points in the innovation cycle in since 1998, led her to recruitment as the Competition and Community Director for what she helped shape into the world’s largest global startup competition, the Extreme Tech Challenge, with Sir Richard Branson as the anchor judge. She helped evaluate more than 4,000 startups over the course of three years, identifying the next big trends and highlighting entrepreneurs on the cutting edge.
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