Knowing the signs Marion heart disease survivor shares experiences

What Ann Jubeck didn't know could have killed her.

Jubeck, 50, of Marion, had no idea that heart disease was the number one killer of women until her own close calls.

She will be among the heart disease survivors featured in a video at the Go Red for Women luncheon Friday in Cedar Rapids. Johnson County's luncheon will be Dec. 10.

A customer service and collection manager at Alliant Energy, Jubeck said she was always on the go until, at age 45, her left arm started going numb.

Thinking it was carpal tunnel syndrome, Jubeck delayed having the problem checked.

“Looking back, I should've noticed more of the signs,” she said.

About two months later, after finally seeking help, doctors diagnosed a clogged artery and implanted a stent.

A series of other health problems that seemed minor to her at the time led up to a heart attack in May.

Jubeck had returned from the grocery store when she started feeling light-headed.

She asked her husband to unload the car so she could lay down.

When he came back indoors, he heard a gurgling sound coming from her and could tell she wasn't breathing. He called 911 and Jubeck was taken to St. Luke's Hospital.

Jubeck spent the next two weeks hospitalized and lost her memory of the months prior to her heart attack.

A vacation in Mexico was forgotten until she saw photos taken during the trip.

When she saw the car her husband drove to the hospital once while visiting, she didn't recognize it.

“You bought a car while I was in the hospital?” Jubeck recalls asking her husband.

It took more photos for her to remember they had purchased the vehicle before her heart attack.

Jubeck said her family has a history of heart disease, but only among the men.

Her husband, too, had suffered a heart attack and underwent bypass surgery.

His symptoms were the ones most people know - shortness of breath and chest pain - but, as Jubeck now knows, those symptoms are not always the same for women.

A smoker since age 18, Jubeck has since given up cigarettes. She and her husband both watch what they eat and have regular physicals.

“They say you

have to be so in tune with your body,” Jubeck said. “It is important that women know.”