I Choose...To Take Care of Myself with Sasha Pieterse, Samantha Harris, and Dr. Michelle Kittleson
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Hi, everyone. Welcome to I Choose Me. This podcast is all about the choices we make and where they lead us. As women, one of the most important things we can do is advocate for ourselves. And it is not always easy, you guys, which is why I wanted to dedicate an entire panel at the event about health. And this is wild. So I'm going to be talking about health.

Someone at our event ended up going home after hearing this discussion and decided to listen to her body instead of ignoring it. Turns out she was suffering from a heart attack. That's right. She was having a heart attack, you guys.

These conversations are so important and I am so glad we helped Amy save her life that day. Ah, Amy, I hope you're listening. I'm sending you love, love, love right now. Okay, today's panel is a powerhouse. First up, known for her role in Pretty Little Liars and being the CEO of Hippie Water, Sasha Peterson. Cardiologist, Dr. Michelle Kittleson.

and our incredible event emcee. She's an author, a TV host, and two-time breast cancer thriver, Samantha Harris. But before we jump into the panel, I just want to take a quick second to thank some of the amazing sponsors from the day. Let's see. Toast. They make my favorite sparkling non-alcoholic beverage. It is so delicious. You need to try it.

And my friends at Merrill Fine Jewelry, they specialize in crafting modern yet timeless pieces. So, so beautiful. Okay, let's get into this conversation.

Let's get started with our I choose to take care of myself panel. So please welcome, first up, an actor known for her role on Pretty Little Liars. She's the CEO of Hippie Water and the host of her podcast, Women in the Nude. Please welcome. I mean, I told you, I told you.

All right. Next up, we have the professor of medicine at Smith Heart Institute, Cedars-Sinai, and the author of Mastering the Art of Patient Care, Dr. Michelle Kittleson. All right. And Jenny. Wait, I want you to join us because you are a badass and I need you. You have so much to say about taking care of yourself. Join this panel. Okay? We need you. I prefer organic coffee. We'll get into that later. Why? Okay. Sorry.

Okay, I'm going to start with you, my lovely friend, Sasha. It's so good to see you. It's so nice to see you too. It's been a minute. Thank you for having me. Yes, yes. Okay, so you were on Pretty Little Liars, for those of you that don't know. An amazing show that basically broke the Twitter, right? It did, yeah. We were really lucky. We were, you know, premiering when Twitter was starting to get really popular and we were kind of the first show to incorporate it into Twitter.

you know, live television when that was a thing. We had to wait for an episode. Right, those days. Yeah, so live tweeting was a thing for us. And that was lucky. I don't know if we would have had the same success without those two things coming together. But the interesting thing about that, you were so young.

You started that show when you were 12? I did the pilot when I was 12, and I did the first season when I was 13, yeah. How old was your character that you were playing? She was about 15, 16. Oh my goodness. Such a baby. You were struggling, though. You were silently struggling. I was. Not quite at 12. So the show ran for about seven seasons, but it was over 20 episodes a season. So as you can relate to this, it actually felt like 14 seasons. Yeah.

And, you know, I grew up over the course of seven years. I became a woman in the course of seven years. I graduated high school. I started driving, met the man that was going to be my husband. I did a lot of life in those seven years. And while all of that was happening, my body was changing, not just because women's bodies naturally change in those seven years, but

as they do, but also because I was having some severe health issues that I couldn't figure out. It took me 17 gynecologists and about five years to figure out that I have PCOS.

And so can you explain about PCOS for those of you that don't know? Yeah, absolutely. So a lot of the signs are weight gain, hormonal fluctuations, lack of a period or too long of a period.

A lot of people have cysts in their ovaries. It can be a lot of different things, but it can also be misdiagnosed a lot. And what ends up happening to women, which I'm sure a lot of you can relate to this, you go to the doctor and you say, I'm stressed. My period isn't regular. I'm gaining weight. I have anxiety. I think I might be a little depressed. And they say, here's some birth control.

Or you're too young, it'll regulate eventually. Or are you eating things that you shouldn't be? You know, we get, I feel like we get dismissed more than we get listened to still. And so when I was around 15, 16, 17, I gained 70 pounds in one year with no explanation. I could not figure it out. Wait, wait, wait, go back. You just said you gained 70 pounds in one year. 70 pounds in one year.

And I also want to just, sorry, I'm all of a sudden putting my journalist hat back on, but PCOS stands for polycystic ovarian syndrome, just in case anyone doesn't know. It's very common and a lot of people are misdiagnosed. A lot of people are misdiagnosed and what's really sad about that is that it can turn into other things.

If you have PCOS, it can turn into ovarian cancer. It can turn into endometriosis. It can turn into type 2 diabetes. It might not be, you know, it might not happen to you, but if you don't catch it in time, those things when they're uncontrolled can develop into things that are not. And also it can make it challenging for some to get pregnant. You have a beautiful son. Infertility issues are, yes, infertility issues are a big sign. And I think...

You know, we were told this is how you lose weight. You have to do a lot of cardio. You can only eat vegetables. Don't eat any fats. Don't eat any, you know. Carbs, no carbs. Yeah, exactly. So you get told, okay, well, I'm going to not, I'm going to hardly eat anything. I can barely eat an almond. I'm going to, you know, have a salad and I'm going to run my entire life.

And that doesn't work for most women. Everybody's body is different. It might work for some, but low carb, high protein diet is what worked for me. And that took me years upon years to figure out. Pilates is better for me than running on the treadmill. And every single body is different. There is a diet for everybody. It's not a trend. You got to figure out what works for you. And that might mean trying on a lot of different diets.

Diet is not a fad word. It should be a way of life and something that is attainable. But to hop back really quick to that period in my life, I was growing up on camera. And my character in particular on Pretty Little Liars was the it girl.

And so, you know, I was supposed to look a certain way, but we were also doing a lot of flashbacks to the night that I disappeared, very mysterious. And so in seven years, you see me becoming lots of different people going back to that same night. And it is a constant comparison to what I looked like as a 12-year-old. Yeah. Yeah.

And so it's naturally confusing for everybody, to be honest. Fans all across the world were seeing this character that they love to hate not look like the character that they initially loved to hate. And I couldn't give them an answer. Not that I necessarily owed anybody one, but I couldn't even figure it out.

And as Twitter and Instagram were turning into what we turn to on a daily basis, it gave people a platform to talk to us across the world, which is amazing, but also a double-edged sword. And so I was, I felt very trapped. I bet. And I had an amazing support system, thank goodness, at home. But because of that, I don't...

I don't think that I would be where I am now. So I'm actually very thankful for it. And because of that, I've been able to help so many other women just advocate for themselves. Because they might not have PCOS, but they might have something else. Go for it. I was going to ask you, being in that environment on the set of Pretty Little Liars,

with a lot of young women around you, what, how did that feel? Like, did you feel seen and heard or did you feel misunderstood? We have, we had a great cast and a great crew and, you know, we were very lucky, especially considering how many, how much estrogen was on set, you know, there's a lot of estrogen there. We were very lucky. Everybody became like a family. Our crew was incredible. But I was also the youngest. So, you know, I, I was 12 when I started, but the

The rest of our cast was, I think Lucy was turning 19 as the youngest. So I was very, we were all playing the same age, but I was very much in a different part of my life. Now, I've always felt like I was older. I always had older friends. You know, I connected with adults more than I did people my own age. But there are certain things that are going on in our lives that are just not the same. And they were so kind and so lovely. And as I got older, obviously, that gap just becomes smaller. But...

I felt supported, but at the same time, I knew that it was a very frustrating situation, I think, for everybody. But you had the support of your handsome husband. I did, and I do, yes. I have known my husband for so long, way before we started dating. And so we had a level of friendship that was so supportive beforehand.

And so when it turned into something romantic, it not only felt natural, but it was also the sense of, I see you. I know what you've gone through. I know what you can be. And that's really cool. Yeah, that support is so important. How do you think people should show up for other people that are suffering with PCOS? Like how can they support young women? I think ultimately it's, it's ultimately about being heard, right?

Because we can't fix something overnight. It's a journey for everybody. Specifically with PCOS, you know, I feel like I'm in a good path right now, but my body might change in a little bit. My hormones might fluctuate and I might have to figure out a different solution again. It is a constant journey. There is no cure. And it's all about balance. And as women, we know that that's not easy. We feel that way in every part of our lives.

And, you know, when you have a baby, your hormones fluctuate again. I was really lucky that when I had my son, I was in a very, very, very small percentage of women where it actually almost resets your hormones. Hendrick saved you. Hendrick saved me in so many ways. But that was something that I was totally shocked by. So for the first time in my life, I've had a regular period after having him.

And that has been life-changing in itself because now my body clock is more centered and I can really navigate my health much better. But often that's the opposite. When you have a baby, you know, because those hormone fluctuations happen, you could go the other way.

and you could be dealing with a plethora of other issues. You're talking about that fluctuation. I mean, we all have experience that I know I have, and on camera. It's always fun. The criticism is hard. How did you handle that? I know how I deal with it, but how did you handle it? Internalizing. No, that's not the right way. You know, a couple of different ways. I think for a while I hid things.

I got to the point where, you know, where I should have been, what should have been the greatest platform became really scary. And I started having designers say that they can't dress me. And so it was like, well, what's the point? And so I hibernated for a while. And that helped because I had a strong support system. But it wasn't really solving the issue. And so that, it takes work. It takes work on yourself. You have to be...

You have to choose yourself before any of that can really develop on like a confidence side when it comes to like facing the world publicly or not. Right. We're going to talk a lot later about menopause, but do you feel like PCOS needs to be talked about more openly? Yeah.

Absolutely. I mean, all of our health issues do. We're so understudied. And PCOS is one of those things where because it affects women in so many different ways long term, being proactive about your hormones and your insulin resistance and everything that comes along with it, it's a...

It's a lifetime journey. It's something that you have to keep working on. And so the sooner we catch it, the faster we catch it, the better our chances are going to be. And so ultimately, yes, it's about awareness. We need to keep talking about it. We need to keep asking our doctors to listen to us and really get to a place where it's easier to be diagnosed. The signs are actually very clear.

If you just get a full blood panel, you need an ultrasound. But you said it took you for a long time. 17 gynecologists told me that I was too young, lying. Somebody flat out told me that I must be lying about what I'm eating, that I must just be eating terribly. Yeah, I mean, I got everything and nothing from gynecologists. And I had a friend recommend going to an endocrinologist. Yeah.

I sat down with an endocrinologist. I told her what I was experiencing and she was like, well, I mean, it sounds like you have PCOS. I can't be sure until we take a blood panel, but let's figure it out. But from what you're saying, this is what it sounds like. A simple blood test. Wow.

Hi, it's Jenny Garth. Feeling confident in my skin is non-negotiable, and that's why I choose Perricone MD. Perricone MD's triple retinol renewal face and eye serums are powerful but gentle, boosting cell turnover for visibly smoother, firmer skin. Since I've started using these serums exclusively, I've noticed that my skin is more radiant, it's glowing, and people are asking me more and more, why?

What do you use on your skin? Having confidence in the way your skin looks starts with Perricone MD. Visit perriconemd.com and use code JENNIE for 40% off your order for a limited time. perriconemd.com code J-E-N-N-I-E. We all know how important it is to take care of our physical and mental health. But what about our sexual health?

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I've seen firsthand what a difference it can make. Addi is the only FDA-approved pill for certain premenopausal women frustrated by low libido that's clinically proven to increase our interest in sex, give us more satisfying sex, and lower the stress we feel from low libido. Reconnect and rediscover your sexy self. Talk to your doctor or visit Addi.com.

That's A-D-D-Y-I dot com to learn more. Individual results may vary. Addy or Flabanserin is for premenopausal women with acquired generalized hypoactive sexual desire disorder, HSDD, who have not had problems with low sexual desire in the past, who have had low sexual desire no matter the type of sexual activity, the situation, or the

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Join now and save up to 40% your first year. Call 1-800-LIFELOCK and use promo code IHEART or go to lifelock.com slash IHEART for 40% off. Terms apply. Will you just again for everybody hammer it down? What were your symptoms and was it the blood test? And can you just say to an endocrinologist or a gynecologist, I want you to test me for PCOS and is it that definitive? Yes. I mean, you...

The answers are, yeah, all the above. So most commonly, which was what happened with me, I had a severe vitamin D deficiency. My testosterone was through the roof, way higher than normal. And I was obviously gaining weight. I had a really inconsistent period. I would go six months, nine months without having a period. And so I wasn't sure if I was even ovulating. That's a really big sign. A lot of women have a lot of gastro issues. And

and, you know, struggling to lose weight, even though you're gaining weight, struggling, not being able to lose any weight. A lot of women have depression and brain fog and fatigue, and they don't realize that it's also connected.

So if you have any of those things, a combination of those things, definitely ask. It does look different on everybody. I have a really good friend who genetically is just, she just looks like a model. And she didn't have any clue that she had PCOS until she started trying to get pregnant. She had infertility issues.

And she always thought that her gastro issues were like, you know, sensitivity, he's allergic. Yeah, gluten-free. She was always changing her diet and could never figure it out. And it was actually PCOS.

And so she went in for a blood test and that was how it was diagnosed. And so a full blood panel. It's just a blood test. Your cholesterol is a huge trigger. If you've got high cholesterol. And so, yeah, your main ones are your estrogen, your testosterone, a full blood panel, you

you will see all of these things. So it's not like, Hey, here's the P it's not, here's the PCOS test. It's let's look at your cholesterol, your vitamin D. You were going to look at your testosterone or look at your different estrogens and other hormones and then paint the picture from that. Yes. And if you are experiencing any pain in your ovaries, yeah, good job. Thank you. If you're experiencing any like pain in your ovaries, something that seems maybe abnormal or stomach pains, um,

if you think you have PCOS, you should also ask for an ultrasound. Now, I actually don't have any cysts in my ovaries. So honestly, it's kind of a silly name for the disease because you might not have any cysts in your ovaries. But most women who have PCOS have cysts in their ovaries. And a lot of women find out they have PCOS when a cyst ruptures, which is not fun. No.

And so just because you don't have cysts doesn't mean you don't have it. And it's kind of a game of like, what on the list do I have? What don't I have? But the fixes aren't simple, but they are easy to implement. And so I think that's important. It's like there is...

More and more research on it, but ultimately it's like figuring out what works for your body. And like most things in our lives, it's the right type of diet for you, the right fitness for you, and figuring out what little things that you can do. Medication might be something. It doesn't... It could be...

I always try and not get on medication, but it's always something that I look to, which is Western and Eastern medicine together. Right. I think they always go together. Yeah.

and I don't think we should hide from either one. I think they need to support each other. And so, yes, it's a mixed bag, right? It's like, what's going to work for you? You're going to have to go on that journey and find out for yourself, but it is rewarding to know what's wrong with you. I love it that you've been so open about it and such a great voice for the condition, and so many young girls are aware of it because of you sharing your story. So thank you.

Thank you. So brave. Samantha, I want to talk to you because people have loved watching you throughout your career. I'm one of them. Big fan. We're big fans up here of Samantha Harris. Thanks. And now your podcast and your book, Your Healthiest Healthy. Which you all have in your gift bag, by the way. Thank you to iHeartRadio. iHeartRadio got you that. Yes. But if we could just go back to the beginning for you. Does breast cancer run in your family? No. No.

The biggest shock that I had, because I was looking for answers at 40 being as fit and healthy as I had ever been, was, okay, my dad died of colon cancer when he was 50. And there's a breast-colon connection.

Hereditarily. I didn't know that. Yeah, yeah. You can test for that, for the genetic link. His mom, my grandmother, was a breast cancer survivor, post-menopausal diagnosis, so they don't connect that to mine, so it's just pre-menopausal, but lived to 95. God bless her. But I was certain I must have a genetic link.

And I did the battery of 180 different, or maybe more than that now, genetic tests for breast cancer. And no genetic link. And so I'm a national ambassador for Susan G. Komen and American Cancer Society. And the biggest mind-blowing stat to me was that for breast cancer, now one in eight women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime, and

And yet only 5% to 10% of those breast cancers are actually genetic. And here I was, I had no hereditary link. And I remember when I got that news, which is really good news to celebrate, at first, and only for a moment, I was disappointed. I was disappointed because then I thought, well, what the heck? Why me? Why am I eating egg white omelets, skinless, boneless chicken breasts? Why am I eating cheeseless freaking pizza? All right. Um.

Now, of course, here I was growing up in the 80s and 90s and early 2000s with the fat-free, low-fat generation eating my rows of those sandwich cookies I won't name by name. You know the ones that are white with the white cream in the middle? I love those. Yeah, I would eat an entire row. Or the licorice that I also won't name that's full of red dye 40 and high fructose corn syrup. I wasn't looking at all of that. So that was the biggest shock. Right.

And that's what sent me on my journey. I thought I was healthy, but I realized I needed to be my healthiest healthy, which is why the book is called Your Healthiest Healthy. Okay, so when you first got your first diagnosis, was that something that you discovered or did a doctor discover it?

The biggest lesson I learned is we have to be our own health advocate. And you guys are all here live or listening to this, and you know you have to choose yourself. I choose me. So I didn't realize how much I had to. So the fast answer to that was I had my 40th birthday a month in the future, and I thought I should get a mammogram because that's what you do at 40. Had them squished and pushed and ouch. And it was clear. I mean, it should be clear. I'm so healthy. And 11, Jenny.

11 days after clear mammogram results, I was changing after a workout. And you know how tight those sports bras are. So I'm like moving them to the left, moving them to the right, little rotation going on. I call it the soft tissue tango. And then 10, 10, 10. And there it was, there was this lump. And I mean, it was sizey. Like I said to my husband, am I crazy? Like, do you feel this? Yeah, I feel it.

Do you see it? Yeah, no, I can see it. And I'm thinking, how did they miss that on the mammogram?

I could have stuck my head in the sand and I could have just said, you know what? I just had clear results. I'm good. But I thought, you know, I'll call the doctor who's the only doctor who ever does a breast exam when I'm in the, you know, and that's of course the gyno. So there I was at my OBGYN. I trusted her more than any doctor. She delivered both my kids. I mean, I was seeing her before I'd even had sex. Okay. I was like, and I was really old when that happened. So TMI.

Hope my kids aren't listening to this. Actually, hopefully they are, so they wait. Anyway, teenage girls, it's fun. Okay, so anyhow, so there I was. I went to see my OB-GYN. She did a quick clinical exam. And Jenny, same thing. She's like, nope, it's nothing. Don't worry about it. And sent me on my way. Month later, lump's still there. I thought, yeah, I should probably get a second opinion. So then I, well, again, not cancer because I just had that clear mammogram. My gyno said it's nothing. So I saw my internist. Mm-hmm.

He did a quick feel, said it was nothing. Four months later, lump still there. Now that inner voice, and this is where we have to get quiet sometimes. We really have to listen to that inner voice. And it was screaming at me. It said, Samantha, you need to see an expert who looks at breasts every day as a specialty. Little did I know there's only one specialty that does that, and that's a breast oncologist. So here I was in a cancer center.

And she did two ultrasounds, a needle biopsy. We did a subsequent MRI. Not one, and this is not to scare you, but this is just to, again, implore you to be your own best health advocate and push for answers. I didn't think it was cancer, but I pushed for answers. Not one diagnostic test showed that it was cancer.

to the point that she came back in with the results after the needle biopsy pathology came back and she said, "Samantha, I have good news and bad news. The good news is it's not cancer." But the bad news is I don't know what it is. Let me do a lumpectomy. I'll just take the lump out. Figured, okay, look, the boobs did what they had to do. They got me my husband, they fed my kids. I'll have a scar now. And so a month after, a week after that pathology for the lumpectomy came back, I told my husband, "It's a beautiful day.

Go golf. Why don't you, honey? Go golf. So nice of you. Sasha's like, yeah, we both are golf widows, so we understand the golf thing. And so he was, which I sent him on his way. The three and six-year-old were playing at home, and I sat in the dark, dank doctor's office as she's feverishly drawing diagrams of boobs and dots of cancer, and you have ductal carcinoma in situ, and it's invasive. Wow. That's...

That is a crazy story. And if it wasn't for your persistence...

your tenacity in wanting to know about your body, you would have never known. And who knows where you would be? And that's the scary thing I think about is if I had taken the doctor's advice or had I stuck my head in the sand and not... And again, I really didn't think I had cancer. You guys, I did not think I had cancer. So it was really shocking when I had that diagnosis. And then that just...

Started my cancer journey and cancerversity as you're having like, you know, trying to take a sip from the fire hose and all the information's coming and you're collecting information and, you know, multiple opinions. I always encourage with any type of health diagnosis, if you have the opportunity, if your insurance allows or your own finances allow, get a second opinion, get a third opinion. Right.

And then make your decision. But gather the information and don't always, as I'm sitting next to an incredible cardiologist right now, don't always take the first bit of advice that comes. And a good doctor, and I know Dr. Kittleson will second this, will not be offended if you get a second opinion. Right. They want you to.

Hi, it's Jenny Garth. Feeling confident in my skin is non-negotiable, and that's why I choose Perricone MD. Perricone MD's triple retinol renewal face and eye serums are powerful but gentle, boosting cell turnover for visibly smoother, firmer skin. Since I've started using these serums exclusively, I've noticed that my skin is more radiant, it's glowing, and people are asking me more and more, why?

What do you use on your skin? Having confidence in the way your skin looks starts with Perricone MD. Visit perriconemd.com and use code JENNIE for 40% off your order for a limited time. perriconemd.com code J-E-N-N-I-E. We all know how important it is to take care of our physical and mental health. But what about our sexual health?

I've been there, feeling stuck and frustrated because I was never in the mood. That's why I started taking Addy. And let me tell you,

I've seen firsthand what a difference it can make. Addi is the only FDA-approved pill for certain premenopausal women frustrated by low libido that's clinically proven to increase our interest in sex, give us more satisfying sex, and lower the stress we feel from low libido. Reconnect and rediscover your sexy self. Talk to your doctor or visit Addi.com.

That's A-D-D-Y-I dot com to learn more. Individual results may vary. Addy or Flabanserin is for premenopausal women with acquired generalized hypoactive sexual desire disorder, HSDD, who have not had problems with low sexual desire in the past, who have had low sexual desire no matter the type of sexual activity, the situation, or the

This is a production of Iowa Public Television.

Addy. That's A-D-D-Y-I dot com to learn more.

Residents at Brightview Senior Living Communities enjoy enhanced possibilities, independence, and choice. Brightview Dulles Corner in Herndon and Brightview Great Falls offer vibrant senior independent living, assisted living, and memory care services through various daily programs and cultural events.

Chef-prepared meals, safety and security, transportation, resort-style amenities, and high-quality care. Everything you need is here. Discover more at brightviewseniorliving.com. Equal housing opportunity.

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So in the in-between, by the way, so 2014 was when I was diagnosed. After lots of information gathering, I opted for a double mastectomy with two-stage reconstruction. I was on an endocrine therapy, so an estrogen blocker, for seven and a half years. Celebrated my 10-year cancerversary and my 20th wedding anniversary with an amazing trip with the family. And then came back to knowing that I needed to have a biopsy because I

about a year before my second diagnosis, I again found a little lump. And I went to, now I have my doc squad stacked. So I was going to the right experts, but even they said this tiny little, it was like smaller than the size of a pea, but it was in the same exact location of my original tumor. So that gave me pause. But they all said, it's not anything. We're not worried about it.

We had an ultrasound. The ultrasound came back, looked great. But finally, my stepfather is a retired surgeon, he's a pediatric surgeon, but he kept saying, you need to get a surgeon's hands on this. So I went back to my mastectomy surgeon. They did another ultrasound, still said it was fine. Said, we're going to see you in six months. We'll check it out then.

I said, no, I'm not comfortable with that. How about in a month? They said, a month, we're not going to notice any difference. But well, how about this? Three months. I go, deal. See you in three months. So every three months, I was looking at that ultrasound result again. And it was staying the same until it changed shape, to which we then needed that biopsy. So I returned from this amazing celebration of 20 years married, 10 years cancerversary, cancer-free, cancerless.

And got those results. And I remember the nurse practitioner called and she said, Samantha, I cannot believe it. It's cancer again. Unbelievable. And your family was there for you through this whole journey. I know you have two beautiful daughters.

How do you guide them moving forward? Early detection, tests, what do you tell your daughters? It's such a different conversation than when I was diagnosed and they were three and six. Now they were 13 and 16. And the hardest part of this journey, besides, of course, waiting to make sure after the bone scans and the CT scans that it hadn't metastasized, thank goodness it did not.

was having to sit across from my daughters with my husband and tell them that mommy has cancer again. They were very well versed in the fact that I had cancer,

They saw me as the survivor who was thriving and doing an amazing, you know, I was killing it in the workouts and the hikes. And I was, you know, out running them and I'm eating healthily and I changed up all my makeup, my skincare and got all the toxins. I made all these sweeping changes to be my healthiest healthy. And I share and guide others to do that. I went back to school to become a certified health coach. I've been a certified trainer for like forever. And so this is the

The line I walk, this is the world I live in. And here I was with this diagnosis. So explain to them that this is what was happening. And they just, of course, wanted to know, mommy, are you going to be okay? That was crushing. But yes, I'm going to be okay. And I have to believe that. That is a wild story. And it's so valuable that you're sharing that with all of us because sometimes we don't want to know the truth.

And I think in your situation, you kept fighting for the truth because you knew instinctually. And that's just so inspiring. Thank you. And to answer your question in a short form, because I know I like to talk, sorry, is that if you have a cancer diagnosis in your family with a first-degree relative, so for instance, my dad...

was diagnosed at 48, died at 50 of colon cancer. I've been getting colonoscopies since 35. Every three years, not every five, I push for every... And I found out that I actually even had polyps some of those times and didn't realize that I would have had them. So important. So for my daughters, they will also start about 10 years before with their breast detection. I feel like those screenings get further and further apart. As I've gotten older, it used to be the four years, now it's six years. And for the...

You know, the check. Thank you, insurance. Yeah, I guess so. So your persistence really paid off and you're able to teach your daughters that, which is going to keep them healthy. Yes, it is. Incredible. I hope so. You were talking about your dad. My father suffered from a massive heart attack when he was 37, I think. Is that right, mom? 37. And so he got curious when I hit my 30s.

And I thought, I want to get a cardiologist. Is this crazy? And one day I was on Larry King Live speaking on behalf of the American Heart Association on behalf of my father. And after we quit filming, I went to Dr. P.K. Shaw and I said, please, will you be my cardiologist?

And he looked at me so oddly and he's like, you're so young, but okay, come and see me. And everybody thought I was crazy. They thought I was being dramatic by getting a cardiologist at that age. But I did not want to go down the road that my dad had gone down. So I went in and I asked for certain tests and I stepped right up as my own heart health advocate. I want to talk to you, Dr. Kittleson, about heart health and the fact that women...

who are hospitalized, less likely to get the treatment they need and more likely to die from heart disease? There's no question. There are these very disturbing sex-related trends and outcomes for heart disease. And I just want to echo, it's such a gift for me, who sits on the other side most of the time as the physician and not the

patient to hear these such powerful stories. One of the things I do is medical education, trying to teach trainees how to listen, the art of diagnosis, and so much of that on the physician end is embracing the uncertainty, understanding the uncertainty, not feeling confident you always have the right answer. So I want to thank you both for those stories. And I would, yes, please clap if

because they're amazing. And then I also want to make it actionable, not something I'll take back to my medical students, but something you and the audience can also take back. How can you prevent perhaps these episodes of misdiagnosis from not being heard? And I think there's three very important things. Number one, go in with your agenda.

When do you ever go to a meeting and not have an agenda with your action items and priorities? Women always have a list. So have a list of the things you want to accomplish, things you want answered. Number two, it's so important to say, I know you think it's X.

But is there any way it could be Y or Z? You don't have to know what Y or Z are. Say, is there something outside of the box we're not thinking of? And number three, never be afraid to get a second opinion if your doctor is 100% confident, but you're not buying what they're selling because there's always some uncertainty involved. And I think a good physician will recognize that uncertainty and make a plan to deal with it. Mm-hmm.

Are heart attack symptoms the same for men and women? The short answer is no. The general teaching is this. Any symptom between your nose and your navel could be your heart. It's not always going to be the classic crushing chest discomfort. It's not going to be on the left side of your chest because the heart's on the left side of your chest.

For me, the huge red flag is going to be not necessarily how you describe it, but often when it happens, the heart is a muscle. It's going to get into trouble when you use the muscle. So any symptom that tends to get worse when you exert yourself gets better when

when you rest is a huge red flag. I don't care if it's in the right side of your chest or the left side of your jaw. If it happens in that sense, that is a huge red flag. Be very mindful of triggers. Right. And the numbers are rising. Isn't that correct? You know, I think we're, it's a blessing and a curse that we all live longer. And if you live longer, you're more likely to, something's going to happen to you and it might as well be heart disease. And I think the other

epidemic we're dealing with, of course, is overweight, and that is a risk factor. So I think we have to all recognize no one wants to happen, but if it's going to be there, you'd rather know about it than not know about it. Absolutely. Do you think that stress

Because we all have that thing called stress. Does that play into our risks for heart disease? You know, I'm a big believer in we don't worry, we make a plan. Okay, so we're never going to get rid of stress, right? And there's no scientific study where you can dose humans with stress like you dose a lab rat and actually sees what happens. So yes, probably stress isn't good for you, but we're never

going to get rid of it. So we have to figure out better ways to deal with it. And conferences like this that give you so many amazing tools through all these sessions are going to be huge. But if there's one thing that we can all do that's going to help, it's going to be exercise, whether you're running up and down the stairs at the CBS studios or wherever you make it work, that will be a one-two punch, win-win of stress relief and good for your heart. Do you think that...

Diet plays a factor. You know, I love so much, Sasha. I love so much about what you said. It resonates with me a thousand percent when you talked about there is no one right diet. Every book will tell you that their diet is the right diet. But you can't really dose humans with diets and do scientific studies the same way you can dose lab rats. So honestly, 100%, the right answer is what works.

There is one rule I give all my patients, which is if you have to open it and stick your hand in to eat it, it's probably not good for you. But short of that, you just have to take the common sense approaches grandma told you. Lean meats, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. If you have to make it yourself, it's probably better. And I try to, and then patients will often come to me and say, well, should I become a vegan? I've heard the vegan diet's the best.

And I say nothing against the vegan diet, but are you going to live longer or just feel like you're living longer? Because it's so unsustainable. So really you have to pick what makes sense. It's healthy, but it's sustainable for you. Did you guys know that heart disease is the number one killer of American women? I didn't know that. I thought for sure it was cancer.

But if you combine all the cancers, heart disease is still the number one killer of American women. Just so you know. Just you take it seriously. Not to scare you. Just to give you the knowledge so you can take care of yourself better. I want to open it up to all of you, okay? Growing up, did you have a maternal figure in your life that you talked to about women's health in general? No.

I'll go first, I guess. Yes, go. I mean, I was really, I am really close with my mom. So yes, I mean, I was an only child, so I didn't have a sister or an older sister to maybe talk to about that. I feel like I was really open with my mom. I do remember when I got my period, which was when I was like, I think I was either just turning 10 or right before I turned 10, which is also very early. Early, bloomer. Yes, I was in many ways. Yes.

I remember that was the only time I feel like she didn't know what to do. I think she was so taken off guard that it had happened so quickly. And she just, she gave me a tampon and she closed the door and I was like, I don't know what to do. She's like, you'll figure it out. We all do. Yeah.

And I think that's about as closed off as she's ever been. She definitely got more open after that when I had more questions. But you had to work her into it. I did. I had to ease her into it. Yeah, yeah. I think ultimately my mom had a lot of her own health issues. She was a dancer. And so when she was growing up, her mom was kind of emotionally abusive and she ended up becoming bulimic because of it. And then she got hyperthyroidism.

So her body was working overtime. She was losing a ton of weight and could not figure out why she had seen every single specialist you could think of. And it was a nose and foot doctor that figured out that she had a thyroid issue. People were sticking tubes down her throat, which by the way, only made her thyroid worse. It was just tons of inflammation. I mean, she had every test. And this was back in South Africa, which is where I'm from.

And nobody could figure it out. Now, this was before I was born. She was losing weight rapidly to the point where she was really, really sick. She was losing her hair. They could not figure it out.

They had a dance contract in America that they had already agreed to. My parents were a speciality act. And so they got on the plane and, you know, this was before we all had cell phones. And my grandma knew where she was, where they were staying. And she just kept getting all of, like, she just kept calling and they weren't there yet. By the time she finally got there,

My mom on the phone, she was like, you have hyperthyroidism and you need to get to a doctor immediately. Otherwise, you could literally die any second. And so she had to take the radiation pill. Now she's, you know, on a lifelong thyroid pill medication for it. And so, you know, I think...

I think with all of my issues, it was like, well, we've got diabetes in the family on both sides, both type one and type two. We have thyroid issues on my mom's side. We have random cancers on both sides. And I think it was like I was determined to find what was wrong with me because I knew that there were lots of different things, lots of different risks. My mom had struggled so hard to find her diagnosis.

But I think it was also, it's also one of those things where, and I would never blame this on her. I think it's one of those things where her and I were both in an industry where what you looked like mattered. And so it's like, I don't think there being an actual issue or disease was her first thought for me.

I think it was like, well, we got to just figure out what's happening with your weight. And it wasn't the connection because that wasn't something that had happened to her. And so I think ultimately it's knowledge, right? Knowledge is power. And like you had said before, which is a real, real thing, sometimes we just don't want to know what it is. We put it off because that's scarier. Yeah.

But at the end of the day, you need to know and you can't fix what's happening to you. It's not worth living with that. It's not worth that. It literally could be life and death. And so that mother relationship that I had with her definitely made it easier. But I think we are all ill-equipped in some way

We don't always have all the answers. And so, you know, you have daughters, we have sons. And if I had a daughter, I think that is the thing where it would be like, you know, I'm going to do this with my son too. But those risks, it's like, if I had a daughter, all I would want to do is want to make sure that we're at every checkup, that we're, you know, making sure that everything is on the right track, that we can, as far as we can help it. And also, you know,

you know, cross off those things earlier. It doesn't... The heart disease thing, like, it's happening to women in their 20s and their 30s. You know, it's not... There's no, like, age that you get to where it's like, okay, well, now I'm... I've been safe for it or from it up until now. That doesn't really exist anymore. Please tell me if I'm wrong. I have a daughter who thinks she's 18 now. You know who you are over there. She is 18, but she thinks that she should just go to the doctor by herself. I'm like...

I know you don't want to hang out with me, but I'm going to go with you because I know a thing or two about a thing or two, and I want to make sure that we're getting all of our questions answered. So that's really important too. Who is it in your life that taught you to choose yourself?

I think it definitely comes back to the moms, you know, which we hope we do for our kids. And my mom's always in my ear. I mean, with both of my, you know, now I'm 51 and she's still in my ear. You know, I'll forget. I'll literally go to an appointment now as active. And this is my whole jam, right? I'm all about wellness and all of the things that I'm talking and I'm sharing with other people. And yet she'll be like, hey, by the way, did you ever get results for that MRI you had? Or did you get, oh. I got it.

I forgot I should check up on that. The moms are so important. So important. I love you, mom. So you guys, this has been such a valuable conversation. I think that I feel like I've learned a lot and I feel validated by you, Dr. Kittleson, to know that I have the option to go out there and find the help that I need, ask the questions that I have on my list. It's so important. Also just listening to your instincts, Sasha, and

And for you, that persistence in knowing and listening to your body and not taking, oh, everything's fine for an answer. Can I ask a quick question? Yeah. Why did you choose cardiology? I'm the fifth generation of doctors in my family and only child and the child of Indian immigrants. Thank you.

So it's pretty at this end that I would be a doctor, but it's the greatest privileged job in the world. I became a cardiologist for three reasons. Number one, talking to a patient actually matters when you're a cardiologist. You can't diagnose everything with a blood test. I enjoy that interaction. Number two, there's a beautiful pathogenesis

physiology about how the heart works. And I love the science. And number three, there's a pantheon of clinical trials that show treatments work. And I love bringing those to patients. I love your enthusiasm. It's so great to meet a doctor like this. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for sharing your stories. Before we go, this is such a fun little, we need to do a photo. Oh my gosh. Okay. All right. You guys can get on your phones for a second if you want to. You don't have to. I mean, but if you want. All right. Ready?

All right. Are you smiling? One. Yeah. Nice. There we go. One, two, three. Okay, good. Okay. We got it. We got it. Thank you so much, ladies. This is a fun angle. I love you. Thank you so much. It was so great to meet you. I'll be calling you though. Okay. I can't wait. Thank you. Thank you. All right, you guys. Give applause. Thank you, everybody. Sasha and Dr. Kittleson, thank you very, very much. And thank you, Jenny, for letting me be part of the conversation. This is so fun.

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