MENTOR, Ohio -- Imagine finding out you have breast cancer, and then learning you have something else -- perhaps even more serious -- wrong with your health.

NewsChannel5's Alicia Booth reported that's what happened Alison Harrigan, 55, of Mentor. But Harrigan said the whole ordeal was worth it because it saved her life.

But getting to the end of her long journey was no easy task.

Dr. Beth Overmoyer, Harrigan's oncologist at University Hospitals, had a routine test done on Harrigan to make sure her heart was able to handle chemotherapy drugs.

Doctors found that there was a time bomb in her chest.

"Her cardiologist was very concerned and felt she was at risk for having a life-threatening heart attack and recommended surgery first, before we could even touch her cancer," Overmoyer said.

All of Harrigan's arteries were 80 percent to 90 percent blocked. A massive heart attack could have struck at any minute, doctors said.

"I think that this was really a miracle because they all said that my heart condition was silent, I had no symptoms," Harrigan said.

Harrigan is one of many breast cancer patients who have inadvertently discovered other very serious health problems.

Doctors at University Hospitals have also come across patients with Parkinson's disease and kidney problems.

Although open-heart surgery, breast surgery, chemotherapy and now radiation have been a lot to deal with all at once, Harrigan is grateful that her doctor was thorough enough to catch the problem. Now, she can even joke about it.

"Somebody compared it to going to get your oil changed and having your whole car tuned up," she said.

It was a tune-up her doctors were happy to perform, NewsChannel5 reported.

"To me, we treated her coronary arteries and we've treated her cancer and she can live happily ever after now," Overmoyer said.

NewsChannel5 is sharing Harrigan's story because it's the fifth of the month -- time to do a self-breast exam.

Harrigan found her own breast cancer through a self-exam.

If you have any questions about breast cancer prevention or treatment, call the Ireland Cancer Center at University Hospitals at (800) 641-2422.