Sunday, August 30, 2009

Pay Attention to Your Heart

The past week has been a week of heart issues. First, my sister was taken by ambulance to a hospital after experiencing pain that was diagnosed as arrythmia (of some sort) and had a stent inserted in one of the veins leading to her heart. Fortunately, all turned out well and she is back at home. This is the second stent she has had inserted in a relatively short period of time.

Then, my wife got word that her almost life-long heart problems (caused by a leaky valve) had progressed to the point at which it is advisable for her to have an implantable cardioverter defibrillator implanted in her chest. The reason is that she is at risk for Sudden Cardiac Arrest; the ICD would restart her heart in the event it stopped. So, she'll have the device implanted on September 22.

Two heart-related big scary deals in one week amounts to an alert that cannot be ignored.

Almost five ago, I was stunned when, at age 51, I had to undergo a double heart bypass operation. While it's no big deal to doctors and is now (and was then) routine surgery, it was a big a scary deal to me.

All these events are reminders to me that life is a fragile thing. I've allowed the memories of my own experience to diminish to the point that I have not been getting the exercise I should and have not been sticking to a heart-healthy diet. My memories have been awakened. Time for all three of us to get back on track with preventative measures so we don't leave the others to wish we had just exercized the discipline to do the right thing.

7 comments:

KathyR said...

Oy. Oy x 3!

Do the best you can for yourself and good luck to the wife on 9/22.

I think if you think of it as "discipline," it will probably not stick. Think of it as a challenge to your creativity. You seem to have a pretty adventurous foodie approach to eating. I'll bet you could come up with some good variations.

Springer Kneeblood said...

Thanks, Kathy. You're probably right about "discipiline;" it won't stick. But the foodie creativity might be the ticket; it could feed me properly and feed my ego for being so creative, all at the same time! I like it!

Springer Kneeblood said...

discipline

Damn fingers.

YourFireAnt said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
YourFireAnt said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3GbUwD5PEo


T.

Me, You, or Ellie said...

Oh dear. Scary stuff. Get out there and go for a walk!

Ellie

bev said...

Yikes! A scary week, indeed! I wish your wife and sister well. Yes, good plan to steer a course for healthier dining. I agree with what Kathy wrote about turning it into an adventure. I'm sure that would succeed.