Rosie O'Donnell: Heart Attack Was Wake-up Call Ray Tamarra/Getty Images After her recent heart attack, Rosie O'Donnell insists that she is not exaggerating when she says that she "almost died." She also said the ordeal led to her recent weight loss. In August the comedian shared the news of her August 11 heat attack on her blog, and credited a Bayer aspirin commercial with saving her life. My arms starting aching and my chest hurt. My son, Blake, said, "Mommy you look very white." I told him, "I don't feel so good, honey."" she told People. She wrote in her blog that she took an aspirin right after her symptoms appeared. RELATED: Rosie O'Donnell Suffers Heart Attack O Donnell said she Googled the symptoms of a heart attack and was experiencing many of them, yet she did not call 911. The next day she visited a cardiologist who did an EKG and found her coronary artery was 99 percent blocked. The doctor also put in a stent to restore blood flow, People reported. "I started crying," O'Donnell said in the interview. I almost died - and that's not an over-exaggeration. That's a fact. O'Donnell said that when she returned home she tossed all of the junk food in her home and began eating a healthier diet. Now, she says she's lost 12 pounds. "For the first time, it wasn't hard for me," she says. It took a heart attack for me to learn to take care of myself. The actress and comedienne will be having her annual Rosie's Theater Kids Gala in New York on October 15.