Susan Lucci is grateful she was able to detect a serious health issue that would have eventually led to a heart attack.
Susan Lucci is grateful she was able to detect a serious health issue that would have eventually led to a heart attack.
The 72-year-old actress appeared on Good Morning America on Wednesday and opened up about the heart health scare she experienced last October. Lucci said she had felt discomfort in her chest twice before, but when she felt it a third time while she was shopping at a boutique, the store manager drove her to the hospital.
"I suddenly felt what I heard from someone in a TV interview years ago, a woman say that she -- leading up to a heart attack -- felt like an elephant was pressing on her chest," she shared.
When she went to the hospital, she learned that she had two blocked arteries, and stents were put in that very night. One artery was already 90 percent blocked and the other was 75 percent blocked. Lucci said she was shocked, especially since she eats a healthy diet and exercises 6-7 days a week.
"It was genetics for me and stress," she said of her condition. "I asked the doctor, 'How's my heart? How's my actual heart?' And he said, 'Your heart is like the heart of a 20-year-old.' And he said it to me three times, so I believe him."
Not surprisingly, Lucci said the incident has had a lasting effect on her.
"It shook me up," she admitted. "It shook my confidence, my confidence in my health."
She also stressed that had she been at home the third time she felt chest pain, she most likely would have dismissed it again instead of getting help.
"I think we are so busy in a good way nurturing the people we love in our family that we are not on our own to-do list, and you think it will pass," she said. " ... You just need to listen to your symptoms and act on them."
Last February, Lucci made headlines when she showed off her incredible physique in a red swimsuit in Barbados. In September, she shared her impressive 6-times-a-week workout routine. Watch the video below for more:
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