Sonja Flemming/CBS Tap Here To Add Soap Opera Digest As A Trusted Source Add as a preferred source on Google Melissa Claire Egan, who plays Chelsea on The Young and the Restless, is opening up about a recent, potentially life-threatening diagnosis of coronary heart disease. She went public with the news on Instagram, noting, “I’m a private person, but this seemed TOO IMPORTANT NOT TO SHARE. Especially for women.”
The actress began her post by writing, “I wanted to share that in late January I was diagnosed with Coronary heart disease.” She then assured her fans, “Thanks to early detection, and medicine, I will be okay!”
Detailing the road to her diagnosis, Egan shared, “My brilliant doctor of 20+ years [Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi] sent me to a wonderful cardiologist [Dr. Mo Ghalichi] when some bloodwork came back high, and through a Heart calcium scan he found plaque in my LAD artery (known as the ‘widow maker). It’s mild so far and tends to be genetic, but rare for a 44 year old woman.”
Cautioned Egan, “This could have caused the plaque to chip off and cause a fatal heart attack or stroke any time over the next 5-10 years, maybe even sooner.”
The actress went on to encourage other women to undergo heart calcium scans. “Later that night after I was diagnosed, I laid with my sons [Caden, 4, and Jake, 2], putting them to bed, feeling so grateful to God and my doctors that I found this early,” she wrote. “But I couldn’t stop thinking about all the other women (and men) that might have this disease and not know it. It is under-tested and under-recognized.
“We all are so good about getting our mammograms every year, but we don’t check our heart health,” she continued. “It is imperative that you do! Cardiovascular disease is the Number 1 killer of women, causing 1 in 3 deaths each year.”
Egan advised, “Tell your doctor you want to be evaluated for coronary heart disease risk. A takeaway from my situation, for your blood tests ask your doctor to specifically look for Lipoprotein(a) and ApoB levels. Also you MUST ASK YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT A ‘Heart Calcium scan,'” she stressed.
The actress also shared that she was working with the American Heart Association to bring more awareness to heart disease. She went into the story of her diagnosis in greater depth on the AHA website, where she explained that knowing that going public with her ordeal might help save the lives of other women. “I’m a relatively private person, but I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t share my story,” declared Egan.
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