Susan Lucci 'lucky to be alive' after emergency heart procedure
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Susan Lucci said in a new interview she's "lucky to be alive" after undergoing an emergency heart procedure last fall.
The legendary soap opera actress said when she first felt a tightness in her chest in the fall, she attributed it to being tired.
"I told myself, it’s nothing, it will go away,” says the 72-year-old actress told People. Lucci said when she felt pain "radiating around my rib cage" 10 days later she thought she had "fastened my bra too tightly."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}SUSAN LUCCI, 71, STUNS IN UNRETOUCHED SWIMSUIT SNAPS, SPILLS BEACH BODY SECRETS
But when it happened for a third time on October 23 while the actress was shopping Manhasset, Long Island, she said, “It felt like an elephant pressing down on my chest.”
That's when a store manager at the shop Lucci was at offered to drive her to a nearby hospital where a CT scan revealed 90 percent blockage in Lucci's heart's main artery and 70 percent blockage in another branch.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Ninety percent blockage — I was shocked," Lucci told the magazine. "I'm lucky to be alive." A doctor placed two stents into her arteries.
The "All My Children" star said she hopes sharing her story will help others.
SUSAN LUCCI REVEALS SHE WORKS OUT 6 TIMES A WEEK: 'I FIND MY BODY CRAVES IT'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I'm not a nurse or anyone who can help in any real way," she said through tears. "This is the way I can help. I can tell my story. Everyone’s symptoms are different but I felt compelled to share mine. Even if it’s one person I help. That is someone’s life."