Donna's Story

How a Club Red member learned that exercise has to be a priority  

Donna White of Earlysville knows well the prevalence of heart disease. As a UVA Heart and Vascular Center pharmacist, she often sees men and women, close to her age and even younger, who suffer serious cardiac events. Both her parents have heart problems, and cousins (on both sides of her family) have died in their 40s, and early 50s, from heart attacks.  

Still, like many women, she was in denial about her own heart health. It was hard at first, she admits, to start taking medication to lower her high cholesterol (a trait she shares with her mother.)  

“I’m in my 40s and still see myself as invincible. I still think of myself as being in my 20s,” she says. But when Donna started working alongside a UVA cardiologist, she realized the harsh reality: she could be the next heart attack patient.  

Coming to terms with reality

“A year or so ago, I started talking with my colleague Dr. (Angela) Taylor about the people she treats who have serious heart problems,” Donna says. “Many of these are women about my own age who have metabolic syndrome, which runs in my family. I thought ‘Oh my gosh, this is me.’” 

“This was the beginning of trying to take better care of myself. I’m so much in the role of a clinician. And as women, we tend to take care of everyone else first.” 

Taking time for good health

Eating healthy isn’t a problem for Donna. She loves fruits and vegetables; she cooks lean meats and never fries her food. Fitting in exercise, consistently, is a struggle.  

“In the last couple of years, I’ve gained a significant amount of weight,” she says. “I’m a notable weekend warrior,” she adds. She ran a marathon several years ago. More recently, she took part in the Charlottesville Women’s Four-Miler. For a while, she took 10-minute walking breaks during work. She’s given up running and now tries to take regular brisk walks around her Earlysville community. 

“Like most people, I try to keep a balance with working long hours, having a family with two teenage boys active in sports, and having some weekend downtime. I used to say, ‘I need to make time to exercise.’ I see now I need to take time for myself. And there’s a difference” 

Donna’s husband is a good example of how even doing all the right things (he’s in great shape as a triathlete) is no guarantee against heart disease. High cholesterol and blood pressure run in his family. “He takes cholesterol and blood pressure medicine, too,” Donna says. “Being married to someone who’s a picture of health is a reminder of how we can’t choose our parents; how we’re tuned a certain way.” 

Finding support and inspiration

About two years ago, Donna became a patient of UVA’s Heart and Vascular Center after she noticed that taking a flight of stairs left her short of breath. Tests revealed no signs of heart disease. But her doctor recommended that it was a good time to start taking medication to lower her cholesterol. As a staff member, and now a patient, of the Heart and Vascular Center, she’s got a team of experts behind her for the long haul. At UVA, she’s found people who don’t just treat her, but “really care about me,” she says. 

More recently, she became a member of Club Red. Now, each month, she gets great ideas on how to fit that daily exercise into even a jam-packed life like hers.