These are words that I’ve heard women use when they’ve been diagnosed with a heart condition. Women just don't think of themselves as being at risk.

My mother and grandmother used similar phrases when they each suffered from strokes.

My mother’s vision was affected as a result of her stroke.

My grandmother’s life was altered by a more severe stroke. While my grandmother didn’t keep regular doctor’s appointments, she was very, very active and vibrant so the stroke came as a shock. After the stroke, she had to become dependent on someone else. She had to re-learn how to walk. How to dress. How to speak.

Both of these events reminded me that if something can happen to my mother or grandmother, it can happen to me or my sisters. The events made me make a commitment to myself to eat heart healthy foods and exercise at least 20 minutes a day.

Seeing women affected by heart trouble in their late 20s and early 30s, who should be in one of the happiest times of their lives and often with small children depending on them, has also impacted my view on heart disease.

The combination of the personal aspect of seeing someone you love impacted and the professional aspect of helping a patient who’s come for help has given me a unique perspective.

The idea that I can heighten people’s awareness is so much more important when faces are attached.

As Vice President of Nursing at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center and St. Vincent’s Ambassador for the American Heart Association’s Toledo Goes Red for Women, I work to educate women and men on the risks for, symptoms of and ways to reduce heart disease.

For example, men and women experience symptoms differently. Because fatigue, chest discomfort and light-headedness can fit with so many other things women can experience, they don’t always attribute them to a heart condition.

During my career, I’ve also learned that most women just don’t think of themselves as being at risk. They are accustomed to taking care of others, but they also need to take care of themselves.

By making women aware of heart disease and its symptoms, I might not hear the words “shocked” and “out of the blue” and “it can’t happen to me” as often in the future.