Since 2004, Go Red For Women has been raising awareness of heart disease and stroke as the No. 1 killer of women in the United States. Join us in the fight against heart disease and stroke by wearing red on National Wear Red Day, Friday, Feb. 2, as we support the wives, mothers, daughters, friends and sisters in our lives.
Glenda Baul (Photo by Jay Paul)
In 2014, Glenda Baul, at the age of 58, visited the gym regularly and ate well. Despite having a family history of heart disease, Baul was confident that she was well-informed enough to stay healthy. When she first had trouble climbing a flight of stairs, she chalked it up to a preexisting thyroid problem and pushed herself to keep moving, unaware that her heart was fighting to keep beating.
As the days passed, she kept feeling fatigued. After a month, she could barely walk without laboring to breathe. “My trainer at the gym said, ‘There is no reason for anyone who comes to the gym every day to not be able to walk,’” Baul recounts. She put off seeing her doctor, continuing to attribute her exhaustion and weakness to outlying factors. When the discomfort became unbearable, she met with her primary care physician, who was unable to diagnose the problem.
After seeing a pulmonary specialist whose results were inconclusive, she was sent to a cardiologist. The cardiologist administered a catheterization, a procedure where a tube is inserted into an artery to give doctors a thorough picture of a patient’s cardiovascular health. “I could hear the doctor going, ‘Ah, there it is,’ ” she says.
After a month of pain, the problem was finally detected. An artery leading to Baul’s heart was 95 percent blocked. Her cardiologist hightailed her to surgery, during which a stent was implanted to help clear the blockage. After the short procedure, she was home, determined to get better and learn from her experience.
“How can you help somebody else if you don’t share your story?” —Glenda Baul
In the months after her surgery, Baul proceeded to strengthen her heart muscles under a doctor’s eye at a cardio-exercise clinic. When it was time to get back into the world, she decided to do the Monument Avenue 10K. Today, she is an active member of American Family Fitness gym and a big fan of Zumba classes. As a human resources specialist at Dominion Energy, she enjoys the perks of Dominion’s wellness program, which sponsors yearly challenges for employees to optimize physical fitness.
In addition to healing, Baul has made it her mission to educate and inform people of contributing factors to heart disease. Her father died of a heart attack; her mother is a survivor of heart disease at 87 years old; and her brother, who has suffered three heart attacks, lives with six stents and a defibrillator. Even knowing her genetic predisposition to heart ailments, Baul thought that because of her regular exercise routine and healthy diet, she’d be the one to get away. She now looks at her hereditary history as a challenge to overcome.
As an associate minister at First Shiloh Baptist Church in Mechanicsville, Baul saw a way to reach out to teach members of her community about heart health directly. She designed a program called KNEAR, which stands for “knowledge, nutrition, exercise, accountability and results.” She began to share her experience with friends, co-workers, and congregants, and encouraged them to do the same, starting a Facebook group that helps members hold each other accountable. “How can you help somebody else if you don’t share your story?” she asks.
Today, Baul is excited to continue sharing and celebrating her life. While she admits that sometimes stairs and inclines can still be a challenge, she says, “I feel great, I feel absolutely wonderful.” When asked what it is like to be a survivor of heart disease, she says, “I never thought of myself as a survivor, more of a thriver.”
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