World Heart Day is September 29. Please Listen to Yours.
Today is a special day for me and I hope that you’ll be a part of it.
Eighteen years ago. Larry had 2 stents put in. The procedure was a
success and he was up and around within 2 days.
World Heart Day, sponsored by the American Heart Federation, this day urges us to do everything we can to make our hearts healthier. Being heart healthy, and encouraging our friends and family to do so as well, is something we can do and must do.
Coronary heart disease accounts for 1 in 7 deaths in the US, killing over 360,000 people a year
I apologize because I’ve told this story before but bear with me. Eighteen years ago Larry was chasing a physical issue for 4 months. Nothing was found when we went to the ER one day.
He was given every test that could have been given...thallium stress tests, a monitoring device, and tests from a gastroenterologist. Nothing could be found, and yet, he felt something wasn’t right.
It took a friend suffering a massive heart attack in our driveway to make us take the next step.
Larry had an appointment with his cardiologist and we insisted on an angiogram, which the doctor had resisted because it is invasive.
It turns out the Larry had a 99% blockage in his right artery, thankfully not this left, known as the widowmaker.
During the time he’d been tracking down this issue, he was diving, hunting, golfing, fishing...everything!
They said that his symptoms didn’t present as typical of heart disease.
What I hope that you will take away from this is you need to listen to your own body and what it is trying to tell you.
No one knows it better.
If you feel as if something is wrong, don’t stop until you find an answer.
Do the research but remember that you are not a medical doctor. You will not have every ailment listed.
Find another doctor...get a second, third, or fourth opinion if you need to.
One more thing...3 years ago, Larry started having similar feelings. We went to the ER and he was monitored but nothing was being found. I began to pull a Shirley MacLaine in Terms of Endearment.
This time we did not wait. He and I both told the cardiologist that he needed to do an angiogram.
The next morning when I was on my way to the hospital (they wouldn’t let me stay) Larry’s doctor called to say we were right. They went in early in the morning and found he needed another stent. The other 2 were still good!
I urge you to go to the World Heart Federation website and learn more about what you can do to make your heart a healthy one!
Cardiovascular disease, listed as the underlying cause of death, accounts for nearly 801,000 deaths in the US. That’s about 1 of every 3 deaths in the US.
Someone in the US has a stroke about once every 40 seconds.
About 2,200 Americans die of cardiovascular disease each day, an average of 1 death every 40 seconds.
Comments(47)