Looks can be deceiving. Two years ago, 42-year-old Joan Danker appeared to be the picture of health. The cardiac nurse was slim, ate a low-fat diet, and had never smoked in her life. At age 28, she had been diagnosed with high cholesterol but she had been successfully managing it with medication. Sure, she was tired, but who wouldn''t be, caring for 4-year-old twins and a 2-year old son?

Overall Danker thought she was taking good care of herself. So what was that pain shooting across her chest, into her shoulder, back and ear at 2 a.m. on Feb. 5, 2001: "I had a heavy, deep feeling in my chest and could not get comfortable," Joan says. "I decided I should get to the hospital, even if it turned out to be nothing."

That instinct may have saved her life. She went to the hospital near her home, Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital. A stress test there confirmed heart disease. Meanwhile, she was suffering from unstable angina--resting chest pain. She was a time bomb for a heart attack. Immediately, Joan was transferred to Barnes-Jewish Hospital to have an emergency cardiac catheterization, which cleared three arteries to her heart that were almost 95 percent blocked.

Looking back, Joan remembers she had been unusually tired the few weeks before the angina began. She had a family history of heart disease, but thought she was doing everything right, except she didn''t exercise regularly.

"I thought if anyone in my family would have heart problems, it would be my brother or sister, who are both overweight and have high blood pressure," Joan says. "I never thought it would happen to me." She had been living with a false sense of security.

Joan was hospitalized for two days after her cardiac catheterization. As a nurse, she is a tough critic, but says she received excellent care at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

"Everyone was so reassuring and knowledgeable," Joan says. "If I had waited much longer to go to the hospital, I would have surely had a heart attack. But through all of this, I didn''t have any heart damage because we moved quickly and the intervention (cardiac catheterization) went so well."

Three weeks later, Joan began cardiac rehabilitation at the Heart Care Institute sponsored by Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University Physicians. The Heart Care Institute in West St. Louis County offers a full spectrum of heart-related outpatient services, all in one convenient location.

Joan''s cardiologist, Craig Reiss, MD, is the medical director of the Heart Care Institute. "The number one killer in the United States requires a comprehensive program of prevention, diagnostics, and rehabilitation," says Dr. Reiss. "At the Heart Care Institute, we meld technology, science and compassion with a goal of sustaining a life-long relationship with our patients so we can improve their quality of life."

Joan says rehab is the key to long-term health. "Doctors can fix you, but then you have to take care of yourself or you''ll end up with problems again. Before this wake-up call, I always found something else to do other than exercise regularly. But I have three kids to care for, so I will stick with the Heart Care Institute."

Story originally published May 5, 2003.