She didn't expect a heart attack. Now she's helping women learn warning signs

[Allina Health Newsroom, November 04, 2026] Midge Anderson was preparing to teach a fitness class when she felt the first symptoms of a heart attack. To her, it didn’t add up. She’d lost 100 pounds nearly a decade earlier in preparation for an aortic valve replacement. The replacement was successful, and Midge found her career as a fitness instructor through her health journey.

As she was motivating others to keep moving on a February morning, she felt the effects of a small blood clot that had become lodged and blocked blood flow to part of her heart. Her first thought was that she was experiencing heart burn, but it was a heart attack.

Thanks to her healthy lifestyle and expert care at Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute, she recovered. Now she and Retu Saxena, MD, a cardiologist with Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute and a researcher with Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, share the warning signs women should know about heart disease and heart attacks.

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