Happy New Year! It was a fabulous holiday season, but now that it has passed we are onto our charity events in support of February as American Heart Month and our Mele & Co. team for “America’s Greatest Heart Run & Walk 2015”.
To my lady friends - heart disease is a whole other animal for us than for men! Not only are the signs different - but what we do to process the signs before, during and after is so different. Who has been around a male with the flu? Who has had the flu? You get my point! At the end of this post I am going to post a link to a video called “Just a Little Heart Attack” that all women can relate to – I beg you to watch it. The first time I saw the video, it brought me back to when I wasn’t married or had children. An ambulance was at my family home to rush me to the hospital with massive internal bleeding, EXTREMELY close to death. As I was propped onto the stretcher, MAST pants on because my blood pressure was too low, the paramedics were calling for verbal assistance from the hospital – I managed to squeak out this quiet sentence to my sister, “Don’t forget to bring my make-up to the hospital”. We are girls, we are moms, we are wives, when in danger or ill, I think most of us think about a whole bunch of things we need to take care of or accomplish “first”. This includes the signs of a heart attack. It’s not “am I having a heart attack?” It’s “I have to make lunches and do a load of laundry first”. Watch the video, I promise, you will learn something! Oh and yes, my dependable sister did bring my makeup to the hospital, which I applied after my operation as soon as I could sit up!
Death in my life. I will admit, my personal experiences with death among my family and friends has been consumed with so much cancer that I really never thought about the possibility of heart complications affecting any of us. As a volunteer with the American Heart Association and with the Go Red for Women luncheon fundraiser in addition to supporting Mele & Co. charity efforts with the Heart Walk & Run, I have learned so much about heart disease. Who knew that heart disease, not cancer, is the leading cause of death in the United States? Not me! And ladies, if you think you are a little safer on the heart disease radar because you are women, you are NOT! The numbers are pretty equal – heart disease is the #1 killer of not only men, but women, in the United States. Every year I work with the Heart Association on these events, I feel I leave either learning something new or just gaining an incredible reminder of the small facts and details that I tend to forget during the year. This year, as a company, we are learning “hands only” CPR – and I can’t wait! I haven’t attempted a CPR technique since I was a Girl Scout in elementary school – I’m quite sure I forgot everything. And hands only – that sounds like a germ free option I can embrace!
What are we doing this year to help this cause? For our 6th year, we will join “America's Greatest Heart Run & Walk” with a company sponsored team. We are thrilled to again walk in memory of Dale Pasciak. Dale was a fellow employee that worked for our Mateflex division until his passing in 2011 of heart complications. He was an employee with an outgoing personality who brought positive energy with him to work and to his customers that he saw often traveling for his job. We are also “paying” to wear jeans to work, selling healthy snacks for the cause, selling Heart Association bracelets and more to contribute to our 2015 goal.
What can you do? We would love for you to walk or run with us (no running for me – it makes my heart beat too fast ha-ha)! If you are looking for a team to join that day either in person or virtually or just to help support with a donation in any amount we would love to have you join us! Please go to http://heartwalk.kintera.org/uticany/mele to join our team or to make a donation. Want to help us DOUBLE DONATIONS? With our company match, your donation has the ability to count as DOUBLE! How great is that? Or, you can shop for the cause! Maybe you just didn’t get that jewelry or watch box you wanted for Christmas. This is the perfect time to get it or a Valentine’s Day gift for someone special because now through the end of February we will donate 15% of our www.melecompany.com sales toward our company Heart Walk goal. We welcome our Mele & Co. friends to walk, run, shop or donate or even just share our Facebook posts or Tweets to help spread the word to help fight Americas #1 killer – heart disease!
Back to my video story – please do not leave this page until you click here: https://www.goredforwomen.org/about-heart-disease/symptoms_of_heart_disease_in_women/just-a-little-heart-attack/ and watch “Just A Little Heart Attack”. Then pass it along, post it on your social networking page, show your friends and family – it can help you save your life!!!
For Dale, and for us, we will walk March 7, 2015. We hope you can join us!
Margaret Graniero
Vice President, Ecommerce