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Boots Knighton: [00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to another episode of The Heart Chamber. I am your host, boots Knighton. I am really excited to share my conversation with Michelle Sheely with you today. Michelle was 44 years old when she was diagnosed with heart disease. At the time, she was an avid runner, an outdoor enthusiast, and a vegetarian.

She did not fit the mold for someone with heart disease. It took four years, four blockages and four stents before she was diagnosed with a myocardial bridge in 2019. In that same year on in December of 2019, she had open heart surgery and she is now advocating for women's heart. Michelle is a community educator for Women Heart, the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease, and she's also a single mom of a 12 year old daughter.

She's also a P T A social chair. . And on top [00:01:00] of that, she also works as head of sales for an organic dairy company. Michelle and I cover everything in this conversation from the frustrations of participating in the medical system to the fear of dying to the thrills. Not only living, but thriving, but it's like to be a single mom, work full-time and still manage her heart.

Thanks again for tuning in today, and if you'd like what you hear, I'd appreciate it. If you would subscribe, leave a review and donate at www the heart chamber podcast.com. Thanks so much. Let's dive in.

Thank you, Michelle for joining today on the Heart Chamber.

Michelle and I first met on Facebook thanks to the Facebook support group, and Michelle is gonna share her story of her

heart journey [00:02:00] with us today.

Michelle Sheely: Oh, thank you so much. Boots for having me. Any chance that I get to spread the word on heart disease and help anybody who might be going through the things that we've gone through or has questions? I'm always here for, you know, peer support and really just getting the education out there because I don't want people to suffer like I did.

I, felt like I suffered for a long time. Through a lot of self-advocacy, I finally got my, the correct diagnosis. so let me just go tell you what happened. So in 2016, I wasn't your heart disease candidate at all. I was an avid runner. I was a vegetarian, I played soccer. I, I'm, Four days a week , I was very much in shape and you know, I started having chest pain when I was running and I thought maybe I had pulled something from lifting weights and I thought, oh, you know, I probably should go in and get this checked out.

Well, they did an A P E K G, and it was completely normal. they gave me some Pepcid and told me to [00:03:00] go home. Two days later, I have police knocking on my door and when I asked why, they said, are, is Dr. Reddy your doctor? And I said, yes. And the woman, the police officer said, Dr. Reddy has been trying to get ahold of you for two days, and she ca you have not called her back.

Your EKG is not normal and they need you to give them a call within an hour. I was in the er. . And, the next day I had a heart calf to find out that I was almost a hundred percent blocked in my l a d artery. So I got my first stent. okay, so from there I dropped 40 pounds. I was even you know, stepping up even more with exercise and diet.

I became a plant-based vegan and a year later that same stent is block that same l a d artery is blocked again. I get a second St. Nine months later, I'm running and my heart is going, or starts going erratic. I'm in AFib. I have, you know, three months after that I have a cardiac ablation, to fix, you know, the [00:04:00] timing of my heart.

Two weeks after the cardiac ablation, I'm in heart attack symptoms again. I have another blocked artery, so I get another stent. And this is not supposed to be happening because my cholesterol, total cholesterol is like a 70. Now. Like I said, I'm a plant-based vegan. I'm doing all the right things, and we we're just going, I said, what is going on?

And so, You know, I'm back in the er, six months later and for chest pain again, I mean, this is all heart attack symptoms and. My L a d artery is blocked, and this will be the third step that I have to get in it. But luckily I got a new doctor from Stanford who had just come over to our hospital and he said, you know, I think there's something more going on.

I wanna look further into this. And so when he went in with the heart cath again, he goes, oh, has anybody ever told you you have a myocardial bridge? And. I had no idea what that was. And

so they sent me to Stanford.

you know, For further testing. [00:05:00] And I did the scans and I, you know, they were going to see if that was to determine if I needed the bridge study. And you know, I'm sitting there with Dr. Snicker and she said, based on your scans, you don't need the bridge study. And I said, you know, Dr.

Snicker, look, I want the bridge study and here's the reason. I know that my l a d artery has is occluding by 7% a month on average. That is the average, that it is occluded three times. You cannot do bypass graft surgery on an artery that is, you know, in the heart, muscle it, it won't work. And you know that and you know that.

And so what's happening is this is gonna be a race against time. I'm going to be occluded and then, . So what I don't know what to do because I'm either going to die or I'm going to be able to have open heart surgery to unroof my artery and that is going to help. And she said, okay. I said, but we don't know because we can't really tell be if I, we don't have the bridge study.

And she said, you know what, Michelle? If you [00:06:00] want the bridge study, we're gonna give you the bridge study. Within an hour after the bridge study, when I'm in recovery, Dr. Snicker comes and sits next to me and said, I'm so glad you had us do the bridge study, because there is so much damage to your L a D artery that if you don't have un roofing surgery soon,

your artery's going to collapse and there'll be nothing we can do for you.

Boots Knighton: Wow,

Michelle Sheely: yes, it was, it was very profound. And this is where self-advocacy is so important because I read on, you know, the Myocardial Bridge group, and, and this isn't isolated to the Myocardial Bridge Group. This is heart disease everywhere, especially in women.

Boots Knighton: Mm-hmm.

Michelle Sheely: You know, we don't need these surgeries, you don't need this.

You know, the, these aren't myocardial bridges aren't a problem, but they are, um, in a certain subset of the population that has 'em. They are. And so really pushing and pushing and pushing, really got me to get the diagnosis, that I needed. And so I had unroof surgery in December of 2019, and I don't think anybody could [00:07:00] have prepared me for what that surgery was gonna do to my body and how my body was going to react and how long it was going to take to recover. And I was in good shape. I was young. so, and then, you know, two months after. Or three months after heart surgery, then covid happened.

So it's been a stressful recovery. It's been a, definitely a difficult recovery. but, you know, I finally got running again. I'm. Decided to, I'm no longer running. I'm walking now,

Boots Knighton: Mm-hmm.

Michelle Sheely: my bike, hiking, those kind of things. I can finally do those, but I'm definitely not where I was before. I had heart surgery, but what was happening was because I was

an avid runner and running so much and getting my heart rate over, know, 150 beats per minute is

I was actually doing more damage to my artery than.

Boots Knighton: is that because of the stints

that were in place?

Michelle Sheely: No it wasn't. It was because when you have a myocardial bridge, you get turbulent blood [00:08:00] flow in the area. That is in the my of that l e d, that's in the myocardium because. The heart, every time it beats, it's occluding that artery. And so you're not getting great blood flow. And so what's happening, I think of it as if you are walking and you have a shoe that's rubbing up against your ankle and you're getting a blister.

so I mean that's the metaphor that I can, or the analogy that I can use for that, is that irritation was happening. And so it's almost like a Turkey baster was taking that plaque and that buildup. and pushing it above the l a d artery were, because it was just like a few centimeters, a above where the artery is, was, is no longer in the myocardium where it would get occluded.

And that's a finding that if you look in all of, Dr. Snicker's research, in the research at Stanford, the people who do have occluded arteries because of their myocardial bridge in the plaque, it is just a few centimeters above. above where the artery, comes out of, of, [00:09:00] of the heart. So that's what was happening.

So ever since I was little, I always had pins and needles in my feet, really cold feet. I just thought my coloring was my coloring. But my mom said when she saw me

in the hospital after I had been un roof, She said, my God, you have color

in your face. She had never seen color in my face,

And

Boots Knighton: remind me and the audience how old you were when you had your Unroof surgery.

Michelle Sheely: I was 47.

So this all started when I was 44. I'm 50 now. So yeah. So from 44 to 47,

it definitely. That long to find, so three to

four years people, they were to find the correct diagnosis for me.

Boots Knighton: And that's what I'm hearing. You know, that was not true for me. Thankfully, you know, the Facebook support group for myocardial bridging existed during my situation and I used it to help inform me. so I could better [00:10:00] advocate for myself and I, my process was relatively quick, but on average, I'm hearing it's years for people like yourself that just has to change.

Michelle Sheely: Well.

Boots Knighton: so much needless

suffering.

Michelle Sheely: It it is. But I'll tell you the reason why it takes that long. And one of the reasons is, and this is one of the questions, is being that I am a community educator for Women Heart, who's the National Coalition of Women with Heart Disease. We do training at the Mayo Clinic, at the Women's Heart Health, um, heart Center, um, with Dr.

Sharon Hayes, and she is the head of the Women's Heart Clinic. And so we do an extensive training on all types of women's heart. , and I asked her about this. I said, why? And I, and I asked the interventionist as well, I, and these are all women who have w work with women patients. I why does it take so long to get that diagnosis?

And they said, well, it's because they have to be a hundred percent sure that it's the myocardial bridge causing the issues because. For [00:11:00] many of those patients, it's not, myocardial bridges don't cause issues, but there is a certain subset of the population that does have them, or the issues are PR can be pretty severe, but they have to rule out everything else first.

So that's why it takes, they said it takes so long to really, for those who have to get unroofed and they're that. Because they, they, they're not just, you know, when they decide to have open you up and have open heart surgery to unroof. I mean, that is after they've exhausted all possible options and we know it's a def it's definitely a tough surgery.

I mean, if I had to do it again, obviously I would cuz I needed to. But if there was an alternative, I definitely would've taken the alternative.

but that's what they were telling me was that is why. It's they have to rule out everything else before. , you know, cause they can't say for sure that it is the myocardial bridge.

There's just so many tests and so many things that they have to run to make, to make sure that that is the correct thing because that is the last possible

option, is

to open someone up. I mean, I had basically three [00:12:00] inches,

I don't know the exact centimeters, but it was the equivalent of about three inches

Boots Knighton: That is

significant. Michelle

Michelle Sheely: Yeah. It, it was severe. That's why they said,

when Dr. Schicker came out of the bridge, of the bridge study, she said,

it's much longer than we thought. And it's a little bit deeper than we thought. And I said,

Boots Knighton: And I hear that too, like.

Most people are, know, but the heart cath and the heart CT can only tell you but so much. And most of the time when people come outta surgery, they're told it was way, way more

significant than originally believed.

Michelle Sheely: Oh, absolutely. And I went in and I. my surgeon, who was fabulous, who worked with Dr. Snicker, um, and Dr. Boyd did, you know, probably like 500 in Roofings, you know, before he went to our hospital. And that's one of the reasons they hired him, was to come over and kind of perform these rare heart surgeries.

he said, we went in and it was longer than we thought, and they had a video. They took a video of them go, he showed it to me [00:13:00] of, of them unroof my heart, and it was just,

Crazy how the artery, once it's unroof, just starts filling with blood. It's just, I

wish I had that video cuz it was pretty profound.

Boots Knighton: Wow. So did you, did the stints stay in

Michelle Sheely: Yes. So I have three stents in my l a d. Um, I mean, they're not gonna come out. Can't take 'em out. Um, and I mean, just, I've had multiple scans. multiple treadmill tests. I've had a, a few heart cats, no, a couple of heart cats since my Unroof surgery. and it's because I've had so many post-surgery. I have pretty severe vaso spasms and so I had one day where I just had round the clock Faso spasms.

I had about eight of 'em. And so they thought for sure that there was a blockage and they went in and they're like, your arteries look better than they. Did before you had un roofing surgery. So they're, it's getting better, but I do have a rare heart disease. I do have [00:14:00] vasospastic angina, that is controlled by, Multiple different medications and it's honestly like biohacking our way through it to figure out what's going to work because things will work.

A certain cocktail of medication will work for a while and then it won't, and then we have to adjust and hope that that something else works. But things are go going really well. Now I have a good cocktail of medication that's working and has been working probably for the last four months, but just to give you some context, I was having.

Vasospasms probably once every one to two weeks that I

would have to take like two nitroglycerin tablets for them to go away. The episodes would last about a half

hour, and

I, it's been about four months since I've had one.

Boots Knighton: that sounds really

difficult from

one. Vaso spasm friend to another. Ouch.

Michelle Sheely: Yeah. It's very difficult to manage because they kind of sideline you and you never know when they're going to happen. I mean, this is living and this is living with heart [00:15:00] disease and I now have,

Dr. Nadiri, she's a female heart specialist. She specializes

in rare women's heart diseases and

even.

Boots Knighton: is she

located?

Michelle Sheely: She's in Cal, in

Northern California. She's at Kaiser Permanente. So I had Kaiser and we call Kaiser Santa Clara, like Stanford South because they pool all of their doctors and surgeons from Stanford. And Dr. Nadiri works with U C S F Stanford, she's well known throughout the country. And even Dr. Hay is at the Mayo Clinic.

you know, in Rochester was like, oh, you have Dr. Naira, you're in very good hands. And she told me, look, as women age and they have vasos spasms, they with, when you change and you're going, going through perimenopause or menopause, these things tend to ramp up and then they tend to level off afterwards. She said.

Why don't you talk, talk to your ob gyn and [00:16:00] have them run your hormones and see how those are what's going on. And we did that. And what we found, and this is obviously really specific to women and not men, was that whenever, when I was having vasospasms, I had was all estrogen and no progesterone.

So she's given me progesterone to level it out and That's when I stopped having vasospasms

Boots Knighton: So did you start the Progess Pro? ? That's so hard to say. Progesterone at four months ago.

Michelle Sheely: Yep. And it has nothing, nothing to do with heart disease. Right? It's a birth control. It's a birth control thing. But I said, when I'm biohacking my way through this and I talked to Dr. Naira and I said, I know that my heart disease. , there's never gonna be a cure, and I know there's never gonna be a cure because it costs hundreds of millions of dollars to do research.

And the only way that heart research or any sort of medical research is done is a, if there's a grant that's coming from private [00:17:00] donors or pharmaceutical companies, or B, if pharmaceutical companies run, run those studies. So if there's not enough cause or not possible return on the investment for them to run these trials to possibly come up with a drug, you are, you're not going to find a cure.

So you have to really figure out what's going to work for you. And that's what I know I have to do. And my doctor said I'm, you know, I hate to say this, Michelle, but I'm glad you realize that because your issue is so rare. That

they're not gonna find a cure for you. You've just gotta figure out

how you're gonna manage it and live with it.

Boots Knighton: Whew. That's. I mean, in one way, you know, go us for being advocates and standing in our power, right? Like no matter if there's a cure or not, we, we still are powerful beings and we, our bodies can tell us what it need, what the body needs at the same time. That's kind of depressing.

That's just the state of the healthcare

[00:18:00] system.

Michelle Sheely: it's the state of

the healthcare

system in, in America. And it's, and I wanna say it's kind of the state of the healthcare system. I mean, in many different pl parts of the world too, because,

Boots Knighton: Mm-hmm.

Michelle Sheely: There's just not enough. There's just not enough knowledge about myocardial bridges and what we go through.

And thank goodness that Dr. Snicker is doing more research and more research is coming to light, and they're showing that there are more problems, you know? But I always get this, this is the famous quote. From doctors that that medicine's not supposed to do that. That's not a side effect of the medicine cuz I'll take certain medications and I'll have a vasospasm.

Like I took a steroid medication, for a gut issue that I had and boom, I started getting vasospasms again and I stopped it. And then I didn't get vasospasms and I said I had a vasospasm, my body's reacting to it. And they said that, well, that's not a side effect. I said, of course it's not a side effect.

They're not going to have people with heart disease in their trials. They have healthy [00:19:00] individuals in their trials, so of course they're not finding these side effects in healthy individuals. So my, what I say to people is, look, you have heart disease. If you have a myocardial bridge, you have high heart disease.

It is

a congenital abnormality of the heart that is a form of heart.

You have to find what works

for you, whether it's auric

medicine, holistic medicine, I always said Western medicine will save me.

Eastern medicine will sustain me.

Boots Knighton: Ooh,

I

like that.

I'm gonna steal that.

Michelle Sheely: you have to find

what works for you because there is not going to be a cure.

And if there is going to be a cure, it's probably not going to. for 20, 30 years, , it's gonna be a long time from now. So there's a lot of time in between that we have to find out how to best manage our symptoms, how to manage our life. But for those individuals who are having symptoms being, you know, wondering if they should be en rof, having the bridge study wondering you.

What [00:20:00] they need to do. I mean, it's advocate, advocate, advocate. Learn all you can about this. Learn about your symptoms. Learn everything about, you know, the, this dis the disease, heart disease, the bridges, myocardial bridges. And when a doctor tells you no, you push, you've gotta push. And I always say this, like I always say, your doctors are part of your medical team.

they are. You have a PhD in your body and your own body. You know how your body works and you know, they're, they're making guesses as well from their internal Rolodex of what they know from medical school and in medical school. We know that myocardial bridges are taught that they're benign. They are taught that sometimes, you know, now you know, it's finding now that they are

not benign in some parts, some population of the people that have them, however,

You know, there's, have you ever seen The Big Sick?

Boots Knighton: I haven't yet. That's on my

Michelle Sheely: Okay, you gotta watch it because in that movie, there is a [00:21:00] scene in there where, the girl goes in and she's in a coma and they're trying to figure out what's going on with her. And her mom goes, , these doctors, they're just winging it too. They're just like us. They're no different from who we are.

They're winging it just as much as we are at work. And I, I had never heard a more true

statement because, I mean, yes, they have medical degrees and they, I mean, they're very smart and they know what they're doing and they, and they know how these, you know, the heart works and the body works, but you know, your body.

You know, what's normal and what's not normal, and you just have to push,

Boots Knighton: Yeah.

Michelle Sheely: and, if you need to get a new doctor, get a new doctor.

Boots Knighton: mm-hmm. , you know, and, and I think, I'm just thinking like, how can we instill

like how do you know when you need to push? Against these doctors, right? Because I'm just thinking about listeners for this podcast and everyone's at a different stage in knowing their body [00:22:00] and being, and self-awareness.

I mean, that just isn't something, you know, that we're taught unfortunately. I had already been through a couple of other health issues prior to my heart, so I had had a lot of practice. basically being able to check in with my own body and know that something wasn't right, but for, and also I am well educated and I have an undergraduate degree in biology, so you know, I, I kind of felt like I was one of the lucky ones that went into this with some.

Training

Michelle Sheely: right, right.

Boots Knighton: how to like, you know, navigate the medical system. But what about those who, you know, this, this is their first health issue, or maybe they didn't have, they didn't go to college or they did, they majored in something not related to like the medical field. Like what do they

do?

Michelle Sheely: I mean, how many times have we ever heard

a story of. Someone went to their doctor

multiple times for [00:23:00] a stomach ache and they

finally went to a different doctor and they had a tumor the

size of a grapefruit or, you know, I mean,

Boots Knighton: Too many times.

It's too many

times.

Michelle Sheely: too many times.

and that's where you, in our culture, we've been taught that the doctors are like, we, we treat them as if they know everything.

So if they say, well, no, this is what you have. or they, they give you a diagnosis or something. We're taught not to question it, and I think it's really important that you think of the doctors in the medical community as part of your team. You are hiring your team. If I'm a sales manager, I'm hiring the best people for my sales team, and I'm going to have people who are collaborative and who work with me as a team and who listen.

Now it's the same with. Medical team. You know, I had a surgeon who really listened. I had a doctor. My cardiologist was fantastic. He really listened to me to the point where he said, [00:24:00] in my expertise, I can no longer help you. I need to send you to this woman's heart specialist for women with rare heart diseases.

And, and he sent me to her, you know, he put his training aside to make sure that I got the best care. So I think it's, Push. I mean, just if they're not willing to look at other things, if you are still having issues and they're, and your doctors aren't willing to look at other things, it's time to revisit new doctors because.

I was in a class with 30 women. When we went to our Women Heart Symposium back in October. Every single woman was there because they, she advocated for herself. She was saved, and, and, and because she was an advocate for her own body, it wasn't the first time she went to the doctor. The second or the third time it was, she kept pushing.

Some of those women changed, doctors, got second opinions. So I mean, I, I would say that all the women who. were in that room and went to that

symposium, didn't it? Didn't matter. They knew something was wrong with her body. I think [00:25:00] your gut will tell you,

follow your gut if something's not right, it's not.

Boots Knighton: Well that's all great. And you know, just thinking about

my personal story, At first, I didn't wanna believe something was wrong cause I was in the best shape of my life. And, you know, newcomers to this podcast go back to episodes one and two to hear my story in depth. But I remember when I eventually landed in front of the first cardiologist I ever saw, he told me what he was gonna go looking for and hoped that he wasn't gonna find of any of it.

And the two things that he was looking for were myocardial.

and a bicuspid aortic valve. I end up having both

Michelle Sheely: Oh, wow.

Boots Knighton: and he said that the bicuspid valve wasn't a problem, which he was correct on that. So we're just monitoring it. But then when he found out the my, that I had a myocardial bridge. He said that that wasn't a problem either, and told me just to take [00:26:00] anxiety medication and you know, that's when I am. I just knew that that wasn't right, like deep down. And, but here's the thing. It's like I had to let go of like this. Belief that I had that take the first doctor because he has a specialist degree, take his word.

I just didn't feel good about how he was treating me, but I had to let go of the authority of it all.

And I think that's what a lot of people, especially women, you know, there's like some authority there that just needs to go away. Like we are the authority of

Michelle Sheely: authority. You are the authority of your body.

Boots Knighton: Yep. Not the

doctor. the doctor might have an opinion,

Michelle Sheely: right.

And, that's why you have to, like I said, push.

And if you have to change the doctor, you have to change doctor. You gotta get a second opinion.

Boots Knighton: Well, what really upset me, Michelle, was that I, so I was reading [00:27:00] all my own reports and I'm finding out through conversations that.

Michelle Sheely: the same thing.

Boots Knighton: People usually don't read their reports, they just go.

You have to, and you might have to go to Google School and like look up terms and it's worth the time. Uh, hey, if anything, you're broadening your vocabulary.

Like what's wrong with that? Right? But go to me, go to, you know, Google Medical School, and teach yourself how to read these reports because. I read first about the myocardial bridge. Uh, the night that the report came in after my heart ct and I kept waiting for the doctor's office to call. He had his like nurse call me and say, you know, the, the doctor doesn't feel like anything's wrong.

You just need to keep working with your therapist. And by that point, I couldn't even breathe on a walk. I'll just never forget it. And this, this doctor had trained at Stanford with Dr. Schnier, and here he's telling me [00:28:00] that myocardial bridging wasn't a problem.

And so I, I preferred myself to Stanford. I asked him to refer me and he told me that that was inappropriate.

So I called Dr. Schnier myself, like that's what I had to do.

Michelle Sheely: and that's what, and that's what you have to do. You have to just say, move aside. I'm taking

Boots Knighton: you were fired.

Michelle Sheely: Yeah. It's okay to fire your doctor. It is a thousand percent. Okay. And to get another one, they are on your team. If somebody wasn't doing what you needed on your team to move you towards your goals, they would not be the right fit and you would get rid of them.

It is the same thing for your

medical.

Boots Knighton: Yeah.

Michelle Sheely: I know that I have a medical team at Stanford that if I ever have to leave Kaiser, I can go to Stanford and I'm gonna be fine cuz I have a great medical team there as well. But it took years of sifting through and pushing and studying. I mean, I was reading journals out of like, like [00:29:00] the Chinese School of Medicine, , I took my data. I knew the doctors needed data. That's what they responded to. They didn't respond to feelings. They responded to if I could calculate my data. And so I had charts and I captured my own data and I'd say, here, look, this is, this is my data. I mean it. And that's what they really responded to.

And that's when I, I think when I told Dr. Snicker, look, I'm occluding at 7% a month on average. Based on, based on the data that I points that I've taken for myself, I think that really was like, oh, okay. You know, because they can respond to that. And if you collect your own data, I mean, I don't care if it's on your iPhone, in your notes, you whatever it is, have your own chart.

Create, create your own

spreadsheet that's going to get that, those numbers. If you can

give your doctor numbers, that's concrete data versus your feelings.

Boots Knighton: Wise words. Absolutely. And you know,

cuz

the, the truth of the matter is they also [00:30:00] have to be, like you were saying earlier in our conversation, they have to make sure that the surgery is going to fix the problem because they, I mean, sadly they have to worry about malpractice, but it would be an absolute bummer if you had an open heart surgery and it didn't fix the problem.

So, Totally respect that. They, they just, they need as much information as possible

and still it is, it is hard to put our gut feelings into data

Michelle Sheely: you're right, it is. But I was able to be like, okay, when I run, when I get my heart rate up to here, I start to feel dizzy. .

and I'm in shape. Like I should not be feeling dizzy. And you know, I w I was always wondering how come after I go on a run, I'm feeling dizzy, like when I'm cooling. Like it was just the oddest thing, right?

So, you know, k k keeping all those data points, I mean, unfortunately I had un, you know, when I had un roofing surgery, it did not fix my [00:31:00] vasospasms, which we thought it would, but they're getting better. And what I realized through this whole healing process post-surgery, Vasospasms have a lot more to do with just your heart.

I mean, they really are about the whole biochemistry of your body

Boots Knighton: Mm-hmm.

Michelle Sheely: and also

it's just the whole biochemistry of your body, like your body has a memory and it's. I was working with therapists and acupuncturists, , and to really go back through and retrain my body because my body was like auto response of, okay, we have to have, our anxiety's gonna be raised now because there's a heart event.

But, so it's been actually taking me to do a lot of like therapeutical retraining of my body. Um, I don't take any anxiety medications. you know, they wouldn't give them to me when I wanted them, but, and that was good because I didn't want that to be a crutch either. Um, so it's just been a lot of therapy, a lot of meditation.

I, I actually go to a support group [00:32:00] for people with. , potentially life-threatening illnesses. So a lot of cancer patients, heart patients, and that has been incredibly helpful. So I think if you can find a support group, and even in the cancer community, it was a advocating for themselves to get their

diagnosis.

I mean, it, this is,

it does, it's not just from heart disease, it's, it goes across, you know, any,

if you feel something's not right in your body, it's not.

Boots Knighton: right. And I think that's where social, you know, social media has been so helpful with a Facebook support group, but whatever for listeners today, no matter what, Condition you're struggling with, I bet you, you know, a hundred dollars, I'll give you a hundred dollars

if you don't find the support group for you, I am amazed at the amount of different heart support groups I'm a part of on Facebook, and then all the hashtags you can follow on Instagram. I'm not a talker. maybe I need to become one, but , I'm sure that there are people [00:33:00] on TikTok who are also sharing their story.

I mean, that's why I started this podcast because even though I have such a wonderful network here and a loving husband, and my dad and my stepmom have been amazing. , it still can be a lonely process because heart surgery is so personal, it's touching your soul. It touches your essence and it's, it's hard to find comfort unless, like I just talking to you over video today.

Even though this is the first time we've met, like, oh, yay, I have another heart buddy

like you. We just get each other right.

Michelle Sheely: someone who gets It.

Yes.

Boots Knighton: And that's what I want for listeners for this podcast. I, I, there's just so much

you can gain from knowing you're not alone, even if you're just listening to another story. And I truly believe it does help in the healing, because if you have hope, your body just seems to relax a little bit [00:34:00] and then it can like heal more efficiently.

Michelle Sheely: Yes. And you know, then that's why Women Heart was founded was we wanted, we call it sister support and Sister Match, where if you are women with heart disease, we want to support you and we wanna get you a heart sister. Um, you know, we do red scarves we call it heart scarves, or we send out, we do red bags of courage.

We can't really go into the hospitals. Not all hospitals let us go. Anymore cuz the HIPAA laws and that kind of thing. But you know, we have a sister match. So Women Heart has been a great support for me. I have, I mean, I thought I had a you know, a, a crazy story, but there's this one woman that I was in my class with who had cardiac arrest and was flat line for 50 minutes and they continued to do.

C p r on her and the, the, the paramedics, you know, they were gonna call it in, in the fire department, and they're her fa, her, not her father. Her

husband said, don't, this woman's a [00:35:00] fighter, she's coming back. Lo and behold, she came

back and that woman is a pistol .

So,

Boots Knighton: Wow.

Michelle Sheely: so you need to have people,

fighting for you

as well.

Boots Knighton: Mm-hmm. .Mm-hmm.

and. Great segue. I I want you to tell us more about Women Heart, and so Michelle, what is your, your role with Women

Heart exactly.

Michelle Sheely: So I'm a community educator, so I offer education to, you know, whatever community is out there. I generally talking about women, heart disease, heart disease, prevention, how to recognize signs of a heart attack or different types of heart disease and really, Get women who have heart disease issue or maybe live with somebody with heart disease or are at risk of heart disease, the resources they need, get them matched up with a

sister with a group.

You know, we do have community groups, you know, throughout the country and

get them a part of that so that they can get the resources and education and support that they [00:36:00] need, because,

Boots Knighton: That is incredible.

Michelle Sheely: living with heart disease, like you said, it's a lonely, it can be a very lonely and isolating process. Your family, even though they see you go through it, they can't really relate to what you're going through.

But those women and women heart, they can, because they've all been through it and they're all living with heart disease. You know, when I was going to the symposium, I said, you know, I don't know. I'm afraid to get on the plane. I might have a hard episode. They're like, if you have one here, it's okay.

At least everybody, somebody has one once here. He goes, this is what living with heart disease is all about. So I was about to go to a conference with women where I knew that I was going to be taken care of I had a heart issue and I was at the Mayo Clinic, so I was gonna be okay . but it is an amazing organization.

it's run, run by an amazing c e o. You know, it's all women and it's just a fabulous organization. And it's, yeah, women Heart, www.womenheart.org and you know, if anybody wanted to be a part of it

or look for a sister to help a sister match, you're, you know, whatever part of the country [00:37:00] you're in, you know, you can

email me, I can help get you connected.

Boots Knighton: So is

that your full-time job?

Michelle Sheely: No, it's a ops volunteer. That's my vol one, that's one of my volunteer positions. , my full-time job is I, I work in the natural food industry, so I, um, I work in, for a org, an organic dairy company and all pasteurized organic dairy. Just absolutely wonderful. natural product, but one of the things that when I first got involved, you know, in helping educate people was I wanted to

teach people how to eat for heart disease, because when I was in my cardiac rehab class,

Yeah, a lot. A lot of people did not know how to eat healthy. They didn't know what choices to make. And it made me really sad because I'm so food centric. I've been in the food industry for years. We're all about connecting and sharing food and, and so I did have a page called the Happy Heart.

I no longer have that. I will probably start that again. I went off Facebook for, you know, almost a year and a half, [00:38:00] and now I'm back on. . So I'm trying to start re restart all my pages and everything. But my full-time job is really

just advocating for organic dairy and, you know, getting dairy better for you.

Dairy that's

better for the heart. into stores all across the country.

Boots Knighton: Incredible, Michelle. And lastly, I also know that you're a mom.

Michelle Sheely: Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Boots Knighton: So here you are being a mom and managing your heart condition and. Just, I wanna normalize that for other listeners, other women who

are mom, friend, coworker, volunteer and managing heart symptoms. Like it's, it's, you know, juggling all the time.

Tell us what that's like.

Michelle Sheely: well, one of the reasons I pushed so hard and advocated for myself so hard was because I am a single mom. . You know, my daughter needed a mom and you know, she needed me to be alive. And I'll never forget, when she was there during my open heart [00:39:00] surgery and seeing her for the first time and how that affected her.

Cause it does affect the kids as well. But you know, my daughter's well, well versed in heart disease. She knows if mommy's having a vasospasm, she knows what to do.

You know, she even gets my nitroglycerin for me sometimes. you know, she really knows how to take care of me if I have those situations, you know, if I'm having an, what we call an episode.

it's been very hard on her. So helping kids manage through your heart disease is really important as well. but we definitely, you know, she's a kid that's grown up with a mom who's sick, and has had a life-threatening illness. And so that's been, that's actually been really hard on. But we are working through it

and she's also had her own therapy.

she'd be able to cope with having

a mom of a life-threatening illness and, and what that's like.

Boots Knighton: Mm-hmm. . That is really important and I, therapy for everyone involved I

think is very important.

Michelle Sheely: you know, it is. It really is, and it's really helped us both and yeah, I can [00:40:00] say it. Get your kids into, you know, if you're a mom out there or a father and you're dealing with, you know, heart disease, making sure your children have support because it's very scary. My daughter always thought she was going to lose me.

And letting them know that their feelings

are real and what they're going through is, and

that their feelings are okay, and

helping them work through those anxieties is really.

Boots Knighton: Wise advice. Michelle, thank you so much for coming onto the heart chamber. I, I feel like I've, I've made a new friend.

Michelle Sheely: Yes.

Boots Knighton: can tell that you are doing great things for women Heart. , and I appreciate your willingness to share your

story.

Michelle Sheely: Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate it and it's been a pleasure speaking with you, and thank you for letting me share about Women Heart and share my story, and I hope everybody who is suffering out there or just starting their journey with their diagnosis gets the support and the help that they need, and always here to help.

So

Boots Knighton: Mm-hmm. , [00:41:00] thank you

Michelle Sheely: you.

Boots Knighton: And that's the show for today. Thank you for spending part of your day with me. The heart chamber exists because of you. If you find value in this podcast, consider donating to this cause. Go to the heart chamber podcast.com and go to the donate link. And hey, while you're there, feel free to leave me a voicemail.

I want to hear from you. Lastly, don't forget to leave a review and make sure you subscribe so you never miss another Tuesday edition of the heart Chamber. Thanks again. Have a great week, and I'll be back next week with more stories of open heart surgery and recovery.