The Sopranos<\/em><\/a> star Aida Turturro<\/strong> has recalled a heart attack she mistook for prolonged chest pains.<\/p>\n During a Tuesday, June 2, appearance on Jamie-Lynn Sigler<\/strong> and Christina Applegate<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cMeSsy<\/a>\u201d podcast, Turturro, 63, detailed her near-death experience that led to an emergency quadruple bypass surgery.<\/p>\n \u201cI was having chest pains for a while, but a hiatal hernia can imitate it [a heart attack],\u201d she said. \u201cMy friend\u2019s like, \u2018Should we call the ambulance?\u2019 and I\u2019m like, \u2018Nah, I\u2019m fine.\u2019 I get in my car, I walk to my house \u2026 my cousin gave me his doctor\u2019s number, his doctor answered and he\u2019s like \u2026 \u2018It sounds like you might need to go to a cardiologist.\u2019 I go to the doctor, [an] amazing doctor, and he\u2019s like, \u2018Yeah, you had a heart attack.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Turturro, who played Janice Soprano, the aunt of Sigler\u2019s Meadow Soprano on the HBO drama series, was then told that \u201c88 to 90 per cent\u201d of her arteries were clogged before she was \u201crushed to emergency\u201d where she underwent heart surgery.<\/p>\n \u201cI could\u2019ve died, I should\u2019ve died then, but I didn\u2019t,\u201d the actress concluded. She also explained that she had thought that she was suffering from a hiatal hernia, which Mayo Clinic<\/em><\/a> describes as when \u201cthe upper part of the stomach bulges through the large muscle [diaphragm] that separates the abdomen and the chest,\u201d because she suffered from diabetes.<\/p>\n \u201cI was lucky it wasn\u2019t my time \u2026 diabetes is the number one cause of heart disease,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Turturro added that as a result of the surprise emergency, she\u2019s since become more aware of taking care of oneself. \u201cI\u2019m blessed with beautiful people in my life. It\u2019s all in your brain. I learned my lessons, you have to take care of yourself,\u201d she said on the podcast. \u201cWe can always do better but it\u2019s really about, don\u2019t do nothing. You can\u2019t help your kids, you can\u2019t help your family if you don\u2019t do you. Get everybody involved [because] this is a priority. This is our life, we\u2019re doing this together.\u201d<\/p>\n
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