Erica Beavers changes her lifestyle after learning her heart was failing.
38 year old Erica Beavers started exercising at McLaren's Cardiac Rehab Gym in December. It's one of the many lifestyle changes she has made when she discovered her life was at risk.
"One day a nurse was looking at my ankles and she looked at my stomach, she told me they needed to check my heart," Beavers said. "So she sent me to a cardiologist and low and behold that's what it was, I was retaining fluids."
That's when Beavers started thinking about steps she needed to take in order to care for herself, something she wasn't used to.
"So super mom, trying to do everything and I had put myself on the bottom of the to do list," said Beavers.
Sarah Worton, Cardiac Rehab Specialist says, "cardiac arrest is when your heart stops beating and if your heart stops beating your body can't function. Erica could have suffered a stroke or possibly lost her life."
Beaver's heart was enlarged, her blood pressure was high and her overall health was not looking good. She was going down a road leading to heart disease, her friends and her family were in shock. They said she was too young.
"The one thing I have learned," Beavers said, "is that disease does not discriminate. It doesn't care how old you are, how much money you have, how many initials you have behind your name or how many degrees you have, when it happens, it happens."
But a warning sign Beavers was unaware of before was her family history. She learned her family has a history of hypertension, heart disease, stroke, heart attack, etc.
Beavers says she still can't believe just how close she was to possibly losing her life, but is thankful she has turned it around by exercising and a healthy diet.
"It’s been an overall life changing experience for me."
