Heart-attack survivor takes her story to D.C.

Meadows wants to educate people about the dangers of heart disease.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Lee Meadows is turning her close call with heart disease into what she hopes will be a wake-up call for Ohio and federal lawmakers.
Meadows, 79, will be in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday participating in the American Heart Association's Congressional Heart and Stroke Lobby Day.
Meadows, of Austintown, along with about 500 heart disease and stroke survivors, caregivers and health care professionals from around the country, will tell their stories to members of Congress and urge them to support public policies that help in the fight against heart disease and stroke.
This is Meadows' story.
At 70, Meadows said she was having a normal day until she felt a slight twinge in her right shoulder. She didn't think much of it until about 20 minutes later when she began to perspire heavily from head to toe.
She called her son, Ralph, who notified her doctor. The doctor immediately sent her to the hospital, where physicians discovered she had two blockages in her arteries and damaged heart valves.
Meadows underwent double-bypass surgery and had two valves replaced at the Cleveland Clinic, and has, as she puts it, "been good to go" every since.
Since then, she said she has been on a crusade to educate people about the dangers of heart disease and ignoring symptoms.
"I believe I am alive today because of federal programs that we are advocating for, like increased funding for medical research and legislation that will help doctors better diagnose and treat heart disease in women," she said, getting back to the reason she is going to the nation's Capitol.
Visited by group member
While she was in the hospital after her heart surgery, she was visited by an accredited member of Mended Hearts, a national group consisting of people who have experienced heart disease, or what Meadows calls a "heart adventure," who offer emotional support to new heart patients.
Mended Hearts members are accredited after they have been trained and accompany a previously accredited Mended Hearts visitor to see heart patients.
"I was so impressed, that when came home, I contacted the local Mended Hearts chapter and got involved," she said.
"We don't offer any medical advice, but there is great satisfaction in helping other people. I feel so good when I'm talking to them and see their eyes light up when they realize I've had a heart operation and they see I'm alive and well," Meadows said.
She said Mended Hearts Chapter 7 in the Youngstown area has a wonderful relationship with the local hospitals, which provides the list of patients who want to be visited.
"Being a Mended Hearts visitor is not everybody's cup of tea. You see a lot of very sick people. But, you can relate because you've been there," she said.
Meadows, who has three children, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild, served as president of Mended Hearts Chapter 7 from 2004-06. In 2005, the chapter was awarded the President's Cup for being the top chapter among 217 in the United States and Canada.
"I'm very proud of that award," said Meadows, who graduated in 1946 from Woodrow Wilson High School and studied music at Youngstown State University's Dana School of Music. "My dream was to be a professional singer," she said.
Meadows, who was public relations director and trainer for Simco Management for 30 years, had given her retirement notice about a month before her heart attack.
She said she had planned to perhaps write a mystery or a romance novel or continue writing poetry after she retired. But, she admitted, she really didn't know what she was going to with her life after she quit working.
"But this [Mended Hearts] came along and consumed my heart and my life. It is my passion," she said.
alcorn@vindy.com