One woman’s story.

On the afternoon of February 21, 2024, Vicki Mascareño Nelson was having a heart attack in her kitchen and didn't know it. Her brain searched its file drawers for an explanation and found nothing useful. Her left arm didn't hurt, so she didn’t think it could be a heart attack. Her jaw pain was intense. She'd just eaten fancy, infused chocolate so she thought maybe it was an allergic reaction.

Two hours passed before she decided to have her husband drive her to the ED. At the ED, staff recognized her symptoms immediately: chest pain and jaw pain are classic signs of heart attack in women. Vicki was diagnosed with a spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) (SCAD), a rare type of heart attack that mostly affects women, and later with fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) (What is FMD?) and hypermobility Ehler’s Danlos (hEDS).

She spent three months in cardiac rehabilitation and two years learning everything she hadn't known. What she discovered shook her: cardiovascular disease kills more women than all forms of cancer combined, and yet only 44% of women‍ recognize it as their greatest health threat. She had experienced exactly that gap and she wasn't willing to let other women live it too. HerSigns exists so that when your body sends signals, your file drawers are ready.