A mother’s legacy, a daughter’s quest

Adria Scarano can’t say enough about her mother, Vivian. “She was the mom that showed up all the time, everywhere — being a parent chaperone on field trips, volunteering in the classroom, showing up to all of my sister’s and my sporting events.” 

Growing up in the suburbs north of Toronto, Adria recalls the time another girl on her high school rugby team was injured. It was Vivian who drove her to the hospital and stayed while she got X-rays.  Years later, that act of care and kindness still resonates. “Later, when my sister had her first daughter,” Adria says, “Mom became the devoted grandma. She did a lot of babysitting and spent quality time with her first grandchild.” 

When Vivian passed away suddenly at 65, Adria, her sister and her father were shattered.  

Vivian had recovered well from a heart attack nine years earlier. She had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery. She quit a 40-year smoking habit and finally started making time for her own health. She attended local fitness classes where she found new friends who helped reinforce her commitment to wellness. Living a healthier lifestyle, Vivian also continued her regular appointments with her cardiologist.  

But heart disease eventually crept back. Reflecting now, Adria sees that her mom’s motivation started to wane after several years. She never smoked again, but gradually returned to her habit of putting others’ needs before her own health. Vivian was scheduled for triple bypass surgery when she died in 2016 from cardiac complications. 

Amid her grief, Adria found a new determination. She especially wanted to be there for her two nieces; the second was born just weeks before their grandmother died. 

“This was a moment where I said, what do I have to do to avoid repeating this?” Adria says. “How can I try to live a long and healthy life myself, to be there for my family and my friends, and avoid the trap of premature death that fell on my mother?” 

Adria and her sister grew up active, eating nutritious meals and participating in sports from rugby to figure skating. In her 20s and 30s, she took up running and continued as an adult with competitive figure skating. 

Today, at 46, she moves a little more slowly than she did in her 20’s and 30’s. And peri-menopause, the transitional period leading to menopause, has brought on hormonal changes and symptoms such as sleep disturbances, brain fog and hot flashes. 

Adria can’t ask her mother about the changes she is going through. Instead, she began talking to peers and educating herself. “I started to learn a lot more about the correlation between menopause and heart-related issues.” 

Menopause brings a decline in estrogen and its protective effects. This hormonal shift can increase the risk of high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. 
Adria realized that lifestyle choices at younger ages affect your health later in life. It’s a message that she wishes she — and her mom — had understood earlier in life. Maybe things would have turned out the same for Vivian, but maybe she would have quit smoking sooner, or made time for physical activity. Adria can’t help thinking about the what-ifs, but uses that as motivation to live a healthier life, and encourage others to do the same. 

For Adria herself, this information was a wakeup call. Fortunately, she is in good health and has none of the cardiac risk factors her mother lived with, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and pre-diabetes. She has never been a smoker. 

She wants to preserve her health and reduce her risk of heart disease through menopause and beyond. So, she is doubling down on her commitment to healthy, active living, while adapting to her current life stage. 

“As you get older,” she says, “you have to work even harder to stay healthy. Now that I’m in peri-menopause, I know that I need to be active more often.” 

But between her full-time job, coaching figure skating part time, connecting with friends and  spending time with her nieces and other family members, she focuses on what is realistic. “If I can't work out five times a week, can I commit to once a week to start? Or try for three days a week?” 

Adria believes in keeping her eyes on the goal — a heart-healthy lifestyle — while giving herself grace. “It's about having the self awareness to know that a 5 km walk at a brisk pace can be as beneficial as a 5 km run.” 

She keeps an eye on her blood pressure, and is mindful of what she eats. “I do my best to ensure that I'm eating foods and drinking fluids that make me feel good. For example, I’m trying to increase vegetables in my diet and drink a lot more water.” 

These are messages that Adria tries to share with other women in her social circle, especially those around her age. “It's knowing that you don't have to go from 0 to 100. You can go from 0 to 10 to start with, make those small changes, and then just continue to grow from there.” 

And she’s working on the next generation of women: her nieces. Adria admits to getting the occasional eye roll — “We know Auntie!” — when she talks to them about healthy habits that will help them live a long life. But that’s not stopping her.

• Learn more about risk factors in menopause