Catherine Mensour’s Story

“Mark, it’s Aunty Cathy. I am about to leave for a work event but cannot find my pulse. Do you think I can still go?” The answer, a firm no, from Catherine’s nephew, an emergency room physician and anesthetist, confirmed what she already suspected. 
“I didn’t know what was wrong, but something just felt off. It wasn’t the first time I had felt this way, but it was the first time that I had stopped, taken my pulse, and thought, ‘What is going on?’”

Bolstered by her nephew’s insistence, and her own intuition, Catherine went to the emergency room where she was determined to have atrial fibrillation (Afib), an irregular heartbeat also known as arrhythmia. 

Referred to Dr. Froeschel, at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Catherine says that she was soon diagnosed with a type of Afib called paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. “That was approximately fifteen years ago and since then, I have probably been cardioverted close to 40 times. My visits to the emergency room were so frequent that hospital staff could greet me by name.”

As the founder of Canada’s first bilingual talent agency, The Mensour Agency, Catherine has enjoyed 40 fast paced and vibrant years of representing actors and writers. However, in 2013, she experienced a stroke in her beloved Ottawa office. 

Slurring, speaking incoherently, and off balance, she credits her friend and colleague Rachel for recognizing her symptoms, insisting that she go to hospital, and saving her life. A quick call to the Heart Institute confirmed the immediate need for a reluctant Catherine to get in the ambulance. 

Prescribed medication during her stay at the Institute, Catherine would also require the first of three ablation procedures including an AV node ablation.

Approximately seven years after receiving the second ablation, Catherine began experiencing increasingly frequent episodes of Afib. Knowing that the recommended procedure would require a pacemaker, she had some big decisions to make.  

Anxious, frustrated but wanting many more years of a good life Catherine remembers asking Dr. Golian what he would do if it was his mother and says, “Could you imagine asking a doctor that!?”. Following an open and honest conversation, the procedure was scheduled for January 2025. Catherine fondly remembers Dr. Golian visiting her in the catheter lab just before Dr. Birnie performed the procedure. “They were both kind and funny. It took about 20 minutes and Dr. Golian has been helping me adjust to a new normal ever since.”

 

Expressing that she now feels free and grateful, Catherine has shared her story through JUMP IN™ to encourage other women to listen to their bodies. “If it doesn’t feel right, do something. And don’t be afraid to speak up and advocate for yourself. Communication is everything as is the comfort of knowing someone believes you and is, ‘on it’.” 

A lifelong supporter of medical care and wellness, Catherine embraces the messages that JUMP IN™ promotes about women and heart disease. “We know that heart disease is still the number one killer of women worldwide. But we also know that 80% of heart disease is preventable with physical activity and a healthy diet. Prevention is so important when it comes to the heart and that is why I use the slogan, ‘Keep your finger on the pulse of your health.’”