Shawna Zawercka (in blue) surrounded by her family. (Submitted/Victoria Hospital Foundation)

By Alison Sandstrom

What the Heart Wants

Listen to Your Heart campaign for Hospital Foundation

Sep 18, 2019 | 5:00 PM

She thought it was heartburn.

When the pain only worsened after a week of taking Tums, Shawna Zawerucka went to a walk-in clinic. She was waiting for the results of a ECG test when a doctor entered.

“She said ‘I think you are having a heart attack and the ambulance is on the way,’” Zawerucka said in a press release. “Total shock set in. How could it be a heart attack?”

When Zawerucka arrived at the Victoria Hospital, tests quickly confirmed that she was indeed having a heart attack. After being stabilized, she spent the night in the ICU and was sent to Saskatoon the next morning for further treatment.

A week later she was back in the ER in P.A. Something was wrong and she needed to go back to Saskatoon for open-heart surgery and a double bypass.

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“Thankfully, after surgery and participating in the wonderful cardiac rehab program in Prince Albert, two and a half years later and I am strong and healthy once again.”

It’s for residents like Zawerucka that the Victoria Hospital Foundation (VHF) has chosen to raise money for new cardiac health equipment during the annual Give A Little Life Radiothon on 900 CKBI, Power 99FM, 101.5 XFM. The event, titled Listen to Your Heart, is set for Dec. 6.

On the wish list is a portable radiography x-ray machine that can be easily moved around the hospital from patients’ bedsides to the ER; two echo ultrasound beds which allow for better imaging and more comfort; and new telemetry units to monitor patients in recovery as they exercise. The fundraising goal is $385,000.

“If we can get these tools in our hospital it will mean quicker diagnosis,” Sherry Buckler, VHF CEO, told paNOW. “With a cardiac failure or heart attack time is of the essence. Less wait time means a much quicker treatment plan and less damage to the heart.”

Zawercka said she wanted to share her story to show that heart attacks can happen to anyone, they are not, as some doctors told her “a man’s disease.” In fact, they kill more women than men in Canada.

She also wanted to express her deep gratitude to staff at the Victoria Hospital.

“If it wasn’t for the doctors and nurses in the Vic’s ER and ICU, I wouldn’t be here today to see my girls get married, and hold my first grandchild someday.”

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom