George, Iowa — February is Heart Month, and a George wife and mother appeared, along with her doctor, on the KIWA Morning Show Wednesday to talk about a rare heart condition that nearly claimed her life.
Emily Denekas of George gave birth to premature twin daughters in September of 2016, and within two weeks was experiencing heart attack-like symptoms. But, she says she initially wrote off the symptoms as a case of indigestion.
Denekas’ symptoms turned out to be from a SCAD, or Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection. A SCAD is defined as a tear in one of the blood vessels in the heart. In Denkas’ case it was in one of her arteries. Her physician, Dr. Amy Badberg tells us more.
Dr. Badberg says Denekas was displaying all the classic symptoms that morning.
After being flown to Sioux Falls, Denekas had an angiogram that showed the dissection, and was taken directly into surgery. Dr. Badberg says things happened very quickly.
Badberg talks about the actual surgery.
In the months after her surgery, Denekas says everything started over. She began cardiac rehab to strengthen her heart, and eventually returned to normal life.
Last fall Denekas says she was informed that her doctors had selected her to be the Sioux Falls American Heart Association Survivor of the Year. She says that has included a photo shoot, as well as a video that was shot in her home. This coming Tuesday, March 5th, Denekas will travel to Sioux Falls to attend the annual Go Red for Women fundraiser. Her video will be shown for the first time at that event.
When asked how she would describe her life now, some 2-1/2 years after her brush with death, Denekas simply said, “normal.”
