My Sister Had a Heart Attack

My sister is a nurse at Methodist Hospital in Germantown, TN, a suburb of Memphis. She takes care of newborns and she is one fantastic nurse. Last week she was at the hospital doing some paperwork when she started experiencing some tightness in her chest. An observant doctor overheard her complaints and started asking a few questions. This doc had known my sister for over 20 years and also knew to take women's heart complaints seriously.  In a moment the doctor told my sister that she was on her way to the ER.  Judy resisted and then the doc told her that she had watched a 53 year old fellow physician drop dead of a heart attack in another hospital the previous week and she was in no mood to argue with Judy. That ended the discussion. The doctor probably saved my sister's life.  I can't tell you how many women with heart disease have told me their nightmares about struggling to get a correct diagnosis.  My 59 year old sister had one severe blockage. She missed out on the by-pass surgery that my brother and I both enjoyed. One stent and she was good to go.  Earl Corum, our father,  had by-pass surgery in 1979 at the age of 69, and now each one of his three children has had a major cardiac event. My prayer is that my sister will use this tough life experience to make some lifestyle changes. She knows she needs to, but we all know it's still tough to change life long habits. Having heart disease in your family is a bummer, but my brother, my sister, and myself have really gotten closer in the last few days. We are now officially fighting the same battle, and I think we are going to come out on top.

He Wore Five Out.

"He wore five of them things out." That was the response to my question. I was talking to a retired butcher about his family. In the course of the conversation he mentiontioned his brother and the two heart attacks he had had. The first one hit when he was in his forties, back in 1988. He had bypass surgery. Just a year or so later he had the second heart attack. I then asked my friend, "When did your brother die?" He answered back, "Why he's not dead. He's going strong." I then asked him how his brother was finally doing so well. That's when he said, "He wore five of them things out." I said five what. "Treadmills," he said. It seems his brother decided to get serious,I mean real serious, about exersize after the second heart attack. I told my wife the story and she had the nerve to ask me when I was going to get serious. Could exersize be that important?

Bless Others, Bless Yourself

In my three plus year journey to survive and thrive after bypass surgery I have found certain activities to be counter productive to better health. At the top of the list is isolation. I know all about extroverts and introverts, and even extroverts need some solitude, but even introverts need some contact with others. For myself I have found that there have been times when I would allow myself to become almost totally separated from the human race, and that seemed to be the time when I also allowed myself to throw my biggest pity party and begin to feel depressed. My isolation gave me the perfect opportunity to focus on all the negatives in my life, especially when it came to my health. On the other hand, when I have had meaningful interaction with others, especially in the area of service, that contact proved to be quiet therapeutic. I am often asked to visit patients who are about to undergo bypass surgery. Most people are so thankful to get a visit from a survivor, and I leave the room feeling needed and blessed that I could be of some encouragement to another person. You don't have to limit yourself to visiting people who are about to have surgery to gain this benefit. A few days ago I went with several other men from my church to start a tutoring/mentoring program at a local middle school. I was pared with a struggling sixth grader. This little fellow was not doing well in school, but was also facing a cruel world, especially for an eleven year old. His dad had just left the family and his mom was ill with some form of cancer. I could look in his eyes and see that he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. We spent more time talking about how he was coping with life than we did with homework. For that hour all of my energy was focused on another human being and how I could help him. I can remember a time a few months after my surgery when the only person who got my undivided was myself.  I was self absorbed with how my heart disease had changed my life, and how I was almost certain to die a a young age.  It was all about me. Getting beyond that focus contributed greatly to my recovery. Every time that I am reminded that others are fighting their own battles and and need someone to offer genuine encouragement and am given the opportunity to reach out I am lifted up. The bottom line is that often the best way to help yourself is to help another. That sounds pretty simple, and it really is.

They Don't All Look Alike

On Monday I spent a good bit of my day having a Thallium Stress Test. While waiting my turn on the tredmill I spent some time talking to two other men waiting too. One looked like a heart attack waiting to happen. He was over-weight and looked out of shape, but the other guy looked like an athlete. I found out that he had been. Even played pro ball for the Vikings, mostly on the sideline, but still he made the team. That little encounter reminded me of something that I have noticed often. You can look great, but still have heart disease. I had lost 50 pounds not long before you bypass. I have seen marathon runners have heart attacks. Yes, if you are 100 pounds over-weight, smoke and drink too much you are probably going to have heart disease, but you might look like the picture of health and in reality be on the verge of problems. What both of these men did that was the right thing was they were getting checked out. Hey, why don't you get checked out?