State of Mind - Preventative Heart Health Check

In most cases, youth and having heart problems do not jive. As kids, teens and even into our 20’s, preventative health care tends to be at the back of our minds… at least it was for me. I was too busy thinking about enjoying and living my life, that future health care took a backseat to my own of list of topics to worry about. However, after taking care of an aging parent, one’s mind can easily be swayed. It was not until I had the chance to delve into the phases of taking care of my sweet Daddy as he aged, that I could ever have fathomed all the necessary steps to ensure things go smoothly as we ourselves age.

Daddy was still playing tennis, golfing, skiing, and jogging well into his mid-80’s and still resembling a fit 70-year-old. Throughout his life, he had always been extremely healthy and made sure to have yearly check-ups to stay ahead of the game. Keeping his weight at a healthy level, having his blood pressure checked regularly, drinking plenty of water and staying away from too many processed foods, helped keep aging at bay. (Personally, I also think that having good genes also played a vital role in this, though this is opinion, not a fact.)

During one of Daddy’s regular check-ups, the general practitioner noticed an unusual heartbeat and sent him to a cardiologist for further testing. After various tests, the doctor determined that he had a leaky heart-valve, which was going to need fixing, and that he was going to need a pacemaker put in to keep his heartbeat normal. He was nervous about his procedure because he had not experienced previous heart issues. The doctor assured him that this was a common practice and that he would be able to get back to playing sports and to enjoying his regular lifestyle, which is exactly what he did. The only difference in his routine was that he needed to schedule regular visits with the cardiologist to have the pacemaker checked.

I was alarmed when Daddy called me in Los Angeles and told me that he had recently needed a pacemaker put in. I had many assumptions about what this meant, though I did not have any real information about it. I always associated pacemakers with elderly people, heart problems, and making sure to stay away from microwaves and airport x-ray scanners. This was my own naivete, and I quickly acted, researching and looking things up, realizing that I too would one day be approaching middle age and needing to become more informed.

The idea of preventative medicine was always at the back of my mind, though it took me a few more years to get started. When I noticed that my cholesterol levels had gone up a bit, I finally decided it was time to see a Cardiologist, with the idea that I would get checked and come out with a clean bill of health. Never did I expect a glitch in my system to occur.

The doctor was impressed with my decision to come in to see him before having any issues and decided to order all the tests that would determine my heart health at this age, so that he could use this as a baseline in moving forward.

The first few tests were easy, an EKG, and a heart monitor, which had to be working 24 hours a day for seven days. These two tests came back normal, which I expected. The next one, called a stress test. is where your heart rate and blood pressure are monitored while you are working out on a treadmill. You start off by slowly walking and every couple of minutes it inclines, getting steeper and becoming increasingly difficult. This “stresses” your heart out to see how well it performs during more strenuous exercise.

Because I was raised with the importance of exercise and being physically active, I never thought there would be any issue. So, during my next doctor’s visit when the doctor casually asked me how I did on the stress test, I said, “Great, it was no problem!” He then informed me that I had “failed” the stress test. After hearing the word failed, I stopped listening to him and went into numb mode. I was shocked, scared and just wanted to run out of his office, which is what I did.

To be continued next issue…