Women At the Top of Tech: Falling to the Bottom of Health Game

 Heart Health Advocate Talks Healthy Living for Women in
High-Tech/High Stress Business

For years, Mellanie True Hills was a “road warrior” working for some of the most prolific technology companies and traveling as much as 95 percent of her time as a consultant.  Marathon meetings, constant conference calls and working around the clock raised her productivity meter to phenomenal levels, while she balanced the relentless waves of information crashing in.

Flying on the “Nerd Bird,” named for transporting high-tech executives between Austin and San Jose , Hills experienced the heart attack symptoms women have and almost died in emergency heart surgery. Later, her heart skipped a beat, she felt dizzy, her right leg went cold and her right eye went fuzzy – she learned she had blood clots and a close call with stroke due to atrial fibrillation, a rapid or irregular heartbeat or quivering of the upper chambers of the heart.  Suddenly, she was grounded from flying.

Atrial fibrillation leads to 15 to 20 percent of strokes in the United States (105,000-140,000 per year).  Hills, author of A Woman’s Guide to Saving Her Own Life: The HEART Program for Health and Longevity, opted for initial anticoagulant treatments before finally going with surgery and was faced with:

• avoiding driving a car, flying on a plane, or traveling alone due to fear of another attack
• weekly blood draws, at home or on the road
• constant adjustments of dosage to avoid too much thinning or thickening of blood, with risk of blood clots or bleeding to death
• having to eliminate yard work, use of any knives, and even shaving her legs to avoid accidental cuts that could cause major bleeding
• the embarrassment of excessive bruises on arms, legs and even the face from even the slightest touch, because of thin blood

To talk with Mellanie True Hills more about her life as a high-stress tech executive or about atrial fibrillation, call 940-466-9898 or email mhills at mellaniehills.com.  Also, see http://www.stopafib.org/ for more details.