GOOD Morning Wilton‘s “Wake Up Call” podcast for Tuesday morning, Feb. 11 is out and this month, we are featuring two important stories.

We spoke with Kristin Partenza, a Wilton mom of four who’s been an avid runner and in peak health her whole life. She’s completed 10 marathons, but during her last 26-miler in October, something was different.

“I was short of breath, I had different ailments, like low back pain, my arms and legs felt so heavy, so I threw my pacing strategy out the window and I just wanted to finish. Once I returned home and I got checked out, I discovered that I actually experienced bilateral pulmonary embolism,” Kristin recalls.

She credits an attentive doctor for paying attention to symptoms that to Kristin seemed like a bad cold. That doctor saved her life.

“She was so great about listening to me because I, like a lot of women, tend to not want to be a whiner. I don’t want to complain. I want to be tough,” says Kristin. “But it was really a lesson in listening to my body and speaking up because I told my doctor a downplayed version [of my symptoms]. And she probed and she asked and she followed up with different testing and it was my blood test… she called me and said, ‘You’ve got to get to the ER.’”

Kristin is now passionate about telling people how important it is to learn about heart disease and to find out their own risks. GMW was eager to share her message for February’s Heart Health Month. You can hear her whole story on this month’s “Wake Up Call.”

Wilton Retailers

Another cause GMW takes to heart is supporting local retailers. During our other “Wake Up Call” segment this month, we spoke with Megan Abrahamsen, who owns Blue Star Bazaar, a Wilton boutique offering apparel, accessories, and gifts for women and kids. (On a fun side note, she also happens to be the sister of our first guest, Kristin Partenza!)

Megan talks about how got started and what it takes to grow a successful business. She also tells us about “Shop Wilton CT,” a new collaborative effort between several of the local retailers in town, and describes how this network of (mostly women) small business owners help one another rather than compete in order to strengthen one another. They’re hosting an indoor sidewalk sale next week, Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 19 and 20.

“Wake Up Call” records live from Orem’s Diner on the second Tuesday of every month, from 8-9 a.m., and is produced by Sharc Creative and airs on Fairfield County Talk Radio. You can listen live or download the podcast on the Fairfield County Talk Radio website, or by downloading the Fairfield County Talk Radio App on iTunes, through the App Store. For past “Wake Up Call” episodes, visit our homepage on the Fairfield County Talk Radio website.

Fairfield County Talk Radio and “Wake Up Call” is brought to listeners by the following sponsors:  the Wilton Chamber of Commerce; GOOD Morning Wilton; Tuff Lawn/Lawn Service; MDM Sanitation; Earthscapes Landscape Management and Development; Stamford Ford/Lincoln; and Dagny’s–the Real Estate Boutique of Fairfield County.