Featured in the February Issue of Guilford Woman

“My mom is my best friend"

This was not the way Gail Jeffries had planned to celebrate her 47th birthday. “I remember the emergency room staff singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me,” recalls Gail, who is a Greensboro resident, mother, sister and owner of Colfax Furniture. “I ran about five miles a day, worked out and watched what I ate, but I still had a massive heart attack.”

Even though she was on a heart healthy path, she had a strong family history of heart disease that was facing her. Three out of four of her sisters suffered from heart disease and she lost her father to a heart attack.

She did know that something was wrong. “I was incredibly tired, my back hurt and I had a pain that ran from my neck to my shoulder and down my arm,” remembers Gail. She was planning her annual birthday trip to Florida and wanted to get checked out before she left. “I saw three doctors that ran EKGs and blood work, which all came back fine,” says Gail. “I was prescribed a medicine for indigestion and given the thumbs up by the doctors to go on the trip.”

Gail left for Florida and on the day of her birthday, she woke up at the hotel, walked on the treadmill and then fell very ill. “I called my sister before I lost consciousness,” remembers Gail. “My sister knew exactly what was going on and called an ambulance.”

Now Gail is focused on staying healthy to prevent a second heart attack. She watches what she eats, avoids alcohol and nicotine, and still tries to work out, despite a knee injury. She also attends regular check-ups and stress tests as her cardiologist recommends. “If I could pass along any advice to other women, it would be to not ignore your body,” declares Gail. “If you think something is wrong, the odds are something is not right. Know your body, take preventative measures and enjoy life.”

Gail is following her own advice and she doesn’t have to do it alone. Mandy, her daughter, is by her side doing what she can to prevent heart disease in their family’s future. “I was overweight, drinking every night and smoking two packs of cigarettes a day,” shares Mandy Jeffries. “I was going down a very bad path. Instead of the freshman 15 in college, I gained the freshman 30 and then added another 30 lbs. before I graduated.”

“My mom is my best friend,” said Mandy. “My mother’s heart attack was a wakeup call for me.” Mandy decided to take her health more seriously and over time she has quit smoking, joined weight watchers and started working out at a gym. “Now, I am smoke-free, have lost 60 lbs. and have kept it off, developed a love of body building and have found a healthy balance between living life and being healthy,” Mandy says with a smile.

Mandy nominated her mother for the American Heart Association’s Guilford Go Red Women Search and Gail was chosen as a Guilford Go Red Woman for 2011.

“Together, we take pride in each other as being strong, professional women who have a choice to live healthy, and we choose to take every precaution to ensure we don’t have more run-ins with heart disease,” says Gail. “We also strive to maintain a stress free lifestyle and not take everything so seriously.” Also together, Mandy and Gail are part of the American Heart Association’s Circle of Red Society, an individual giving level that is specific to Go Red For Women in Guilford County and focused on helping women explore their family history of heart disease, become familiar with the warning signs of a heart attack in women and prevent heart disease by making changes for a heart healthy lifestyle.

Colfax Furniture Goes Red on National Wear Red Day (Friday, February 3, 2012)

February is American Heart Month and Friday, February 3 is National Wear Red Day, an American Heart Association focus to help women prevent heart disease, the number one killer of women in the United States. Plan to wear your red with Gail and Mandy on National Wear Red Day and become a fan at www.facebook.com/goredtriad to learn how you can nominate a Guilford County woman for the American Heart Association’s 2012 Guilford Go Red Women Search.

For more information on the Guilford Go Red For Women Luncheon & Expo on Saturday, May 15, or the Circle of Red, visit www. heart.org/guilfordncgoredluncheon.