DEAN OF THE BUSINESS SCHOOL FOR A LONG TIME AT DILLARD UNIVERSITY. WELL, FEBRUARY IS BLACK HISTORY AND NATIONAL HEART HEALTH MONTH. 1 IN 5 PEOPLE HAVE A HIDDEN HEART RISK THAT THEY KNOW NOTHING ABOUT, AND ONE AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN SAYS PERSISTENCE AT THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE SAVED HER LIFE. WDSU REPORTER SHAY O’CONNOR HAS AN INSPIRING STORY. ONLY ON SIX, AND ON THAT LAST VISIT, I REMEMBER SAYING, I’M NOT GOING HOME. SO TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK, IT’S A SITUATION NO ONE WANTS TO FIND THEMSELVES IN. FOR NATASHA SMITH LEWIS IT STARTED WITH SHORTNESS OF BREATH IN A SHARP PAIN. AT 42, I WAS TRYING TO. DO MY REGULAR ROUTINE. I WAS TRYING TO EXERCISE, I WAS DOING MY DANCE AND SUDDENLY I GOT A VERY SHARP PAIN, DEBILITATING PAIN, RIGHT IN MY LEFT COLLARBONE, THE MARRIED MOTHER OF THREE SAYS. SHE SHRUGGED IT OFF AS STRESS OR EXHAUSTION. MY SYMPTOMS BEGAN TO SNOWBALL, AND IT WAS AT THAT POINT I SAID, SOMETHING IS GOING ON WITH ME, LEWIS SAYS HER PRIMARY CARE DOCTOR TOLD HER NOTHING WAS WRONG AND I END UP GOING TO SEVEN CARDIOLOGIST. I WENT TO ONE INTERNIST. I ENDED UP HAVING TWO EMERGENCY ROOM VISITS AND STILL NO DIAGNOSIS. BUT I KNEW SOMETHING WAS GOING ON. MY SYMPTOMS HAD GONE SO FAR THAT IT WAS IT WAS DIFFICULT TO GET OUT OF MY VEHICLE, WHICH IS ABOUT 20FT FROM THE DOOR. DO YOU FEEL BECAUSE YOU ARE AN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN, THAT DOCTORS THAT IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH DOCTORS NOT TAKING YOUR HEALTH SERIOUSLY? SOME OF THE MAIN FACTORS WERE WAS THAT I DIDN’T LOOK THE PART AS TO WHAT THEY WERE USED TO. AT 42 AT THAT TIME, THAT WAS CONSIDERED TO BE YOUNG. I WAS NOT OVERWEIGHT. I WAS ACTIVE. IT WOULD TAKE TWO MONTHS OF DOCTORS VISITS FOR LEWIS TO FIND OUT. SHE HAD THREE CLOGGED ARTERIES AND NEEDED A TRIPLE BYPASS. I ACCEPTED EITHER I’M GOING TO BE HERE OR I’M NOT. I DO SKIPS AFTER SURGERY, SHE DECIDED SHE WOULD NOT STOP MOVING ON TO THE OTHER WINDOW SEVEN MONTHS AFTER SURGERY, AND SHE PARTICIPATED IN THE CRESCENT CITY CLASSIC AS HER FAMILY CHEERED HER ON. OH, THEY WERE NOW. THEY WERE EXCITED AND WORRIED. I DO 80 JUMPING JACKS EVERY DAY, 12 YEARS LATER IN LEWIS HAS A MESSAGE FOR OTHER BLACK WOMEN AND WOMEN IN GENERAL ABOUT TRUSTING YOUR INTUITION WHEN SOMETHING DOESN’T FEEL RIGHT. YOU KNOW, I SHOW MY SCAR AND I TELL PEOPLE, THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT I’M ASHAMED OF. THIS IS A LIFELINE. THIS IS A SECOND CHANCE FOR ME AND SO IF I CAN AVOID OR HELP AVOID SOMEONE ELSE GOING THROUGH HAVING A HEART ATTACK OR EVEN HAVING A BYPASS SURGERY, THEN I KNOW THAT THIS INTERVIEW, WHO IS DOING WHAT IT NEEDS TO DO BEFORE IT CAN I HELP THE HEART? NATASHA URGING EVERYONE TO GET OUTSIDE AND MOVE AND TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT WITH YOUR PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN. IT COULD BE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIFE A