I have been wrestling with a major life changing decision. I have known for many months that my occupation (running an anesthesia billing office) is more stress than I should put on my post heart attack heart.  The evidence has been building.  Increased chest pain, increased indigestion and crushing fatigue. Even as these symptoms were increasing, I tried to ignore them.  To acknowledge them seems like losing.  It means I should not do all the things I did pre-heart attack.

So, I’m leaving my corporate job. This week, I gave my notice to a company I have loved working for and have been with for a long time.  It was gut wrenching to tell my staff and I cried when I told them.  They cried too. They are indeed the hardest working and the most amazing staff that someone could ever hope to manage.  From the time I transferred from the medical billing software side of our company to the billing service, they have given me and our clients 110%.

My company has supported me 100% since my heart attack.  They have supported  my mission to spread the word that heart disease and stroke are the number one killer of women and in my work with the American Heart Association.  They got behind Go Red For Women and National Wear Red Day:

We have had Heart Walk Teams:

You can see why this was an excruciating decision. I will miss them.  So I enter the uncharted territory of no corporate paycheck or insurance coverage and enter college territory.  My cardiologist is happy with this.  She was decidedly unhappy with my choice to ignore my symptoms and let them continue for this long without telling her.  As a result,  I get  to go have a nuclear medicine stress test and echo next week to make sure none of this caused any damage and that my symptoms are only a product of the stress and not something more sinister!

Score–Heart disease – 1, Jodi – 0.  You may have won the battle, but I will win the war.