Mi Corazon, Tu Corazon
- By: rebekah
- On: 09/28/2009 07:57:33
- In: Rumor Has It ...
- Comments: 19
Take care of your “corazons.”
That’s “hearts” in Spanish. I learned that word, not in high school Spanish, but in the movie, The Beverly Hills Chihuahua. (In case you missed it...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNUn0HHq7iw)
Take care of the corazons not only inside your body, but also the ones walking around outside of your body.
Do you remember the quote about your heart and having a child? It is from Elizabeth Stone, “Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”
I heard that first when I had a child (she’s 8) and I knew exactly what those words meant. I knew what it felt like.
There’s my heart…over there on the monkey bars, defying gravity. There it is…in the Emergency Room, waiting for an x-ray after the car door slammed on her hand. There it is…on stage at a ballet recital, looking so graceful and elegant. There it is…up on a too-high seat where her feet can’t touch the ground, learning to ride a bicycle. There it is…starting a new school, trying to be accepted in the established clique. There it is…beside me in church, sitting quietly and looking so serious.
When my husband was 40, he had a heart attack. Mi Corazon.
It was a miracle that he asked me to take him to the hospital that night. He had just gotten in late from the airport. He had been on a business trip and was exhausted. He lay down in bed beside me and soon realized something was wrong.
I drove him to the closest hospital where another miracle occurred. The doctor on duty realized that this handsome, young, healthy looking guy was having a heart attack and immediately gave him a clot buster drug.
A few days later, they performed some heart procedures to fix the place that caused the attack.
Hubby was the picture of health. He was physically active, worked out, ate well. He didn’t have high cholesterol or high blood pressure. The cardiologist told us that there are a great number of heart attack cases where there are no risk factors. Zero. He was one of those medical mysteries, the doc said.
Now here’s another miraculous part of the story.
Sometime later, Hubby was having lunch with one of his friends, a veterinarian. He mentioned that Hubby might want to consider going to a blood specialist to have his blood tested. So on the advice of his veterinarian-friend, he went to a blood doctor. The blood doctor ran tests and learned that Hubby had a rare blood disorder that caused his blood to clot. That’s what caused the heart attack.
There’s no doubt that a veterinarian is trained to think more holistically. Their patients can’t talk, so they’ve got to think in a different way than say, a cardiologist.
Anyway, thanks to our veterinarian friend, we learned that the blood issue had caused his heart attack. Hubby was treated for that blood disorder and for the past number of years there has been no sign of it.
Last week when my husband went for his annual stress test, the doctors saw something on his heart that appeared to be blockage. It was days before he could go to the hospital for further testing.
Those days of waiting were brutal. So was the day at the hospital. The not knowing.
I told my hubby as he laid there: “Well, if I can get through this day without throwing up, then I’ll be surprised.”
But it is now over. Everything went extra-well. I didn’t throw up.
It sure made us think about ways we could do better. Not only for ourselves, but for each other, and our child.
We all owe it to ourselves and our families.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death throughout the world. “International Heart Day” was Sunday, September 27, 2009. It was established as a way to raise awareness of heart disease. So let’s raise our own awareness. http://www.world-heart-federation.org/index.php?id=123
A fact we Farmgirls need to pay attention to it this one: cardiovascular disease is the #1 killer in women. It is more likely to occur than breast cancer.
One in nine women who are 45-64 years old will have heart disease.
One in three women 65 years and older will.
And how about this? Did you know that women are less likely to seek help when having a heart attack or a stroke than men? They will delay going to the doctor or hospital when they need to. Why do you think that is? I think it is because women don’t (in general) put themselves high on the priority list. And women don’t think of themselves as possibly having a heart attack or a stroke.
Some risk factors we have control over. Others we don't. The ones we do have control over are responsible for about 80% of heart disease and strokes. That's monumental.
So, we might as well do EVERYTHING we can to reduce the risk factors we can. They are things like exercising, maintaining a healthy weight, eating right, learning to manage stress, stop smoking, working to reduce high pressure or high cholesterol.
My list for what’s good for hearts:
1. Resign as manager of the universe
2. Get a dog
3. Be or make friends with a farmer (join a CSA, find a farmer’s market or roadside stand)
4. Spend some time outside every day, no matter the weather (no matter the view)
5. Meditate or pray
6. Plant some kale in your yard or on your deck (for directions, see my post about planting turnip greens)
7. Shower the people you love with love
8. Try the “Meatless Monday” concept (http://www.meatlessmonday.com/)
9. Make up your mind to be happy
(“A person will be just about as happy as they make up their mind to be.” Abraham Lincoln)
10.
What should number 10 on my list be?
And, what about you? What do you do to take care of your corazons? And I mean ALL your corazons: the ones you carry around in your body and outside your body….We love to read your comments!
Until next time, Friends, savor the flavor of life!
Lots of love, The City Farmgirl, Rebekah
Lots of love, The City Farmgirl, Rebekah
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Comments
down and uplifting another. I try to remember this everyday.
I say number 10 is LISTEN!
Listen to what your body is telling you. Why don't we rest when our body tells us?
Listen when your heart tells you it needs to grieve. Why do we feel that we need to keep a stiff upper lip all the time and keep going?
Listen to the voice inside of us that says "I'm sad, poor me". Why must we feel sorrow and pain is always a comparitive? (it could be worse, she has it much worse then me and is always happy)
Our heart and body and mind and soul tell us what we need to be healthy and whole. But we plug on. One more load of laundry. One more meal. One more boo boo kissed. Until we push through our exhaustion and pain and sorrow. Because, you know, we're tough. We can do it.
But should we? Should we always wear ourselves out emotionally and physically to the point of zero?
I think if we were willing to listen we would realize that we also deserve all the same tender care and attention we lavish on our families, on our friends. Those things we do to ensure that they are whole and healthy and happy and well and bright-eyed.
We need to do all those things for ourselves, too. And we need to know that's OK. It isn't selfish. It isn't self-serving. It isn't frivolous to take a nap when there are dishes and bills to pay and kids to run all over.
We need to shower ourselves with love, too.
And we need to listen and to start listening right now. Because after awhile perhaps we become unable to hear the beat of our own hearts. The whisper of our own souls.
I think on my own list I will this to number one in priority.
And now, gee, aren't you glad you asked!?!
11. ROFL or LOL daily.
My # 10 heart healthy tip would to take a low dose baby aspirin a day -with your doctor's approval, of course.
Also, lots of power walking! Some uphill walking if possible or take the stairs whenever possible. Regular exercise helps build collateral circulation which can save your life during a heart attack.
Stay healthy!
Pat
Wow, there are so many things I could say about your post. Life is so uncertain. I had my heart walking around with four children. They did quite well for the most part, all went in the Army, serving in many places. Maybe you can guess where this is leading. Yes, our youngest, Aaron unfortunately did not come home safely from Iraq wher he was serving in 2004. Has been a long journey for our family, going on.
But I think we go on for each other, and to honor his sacrifice. We have projects that help us heal, military related, a scholarship, things we think he would approve.
I truly hope and pray your husband's health continues.
Thank-you for sharing many topics that may be hard to discuss. I enjoy all your posts. A country gal
This is probably the sweetest most heartfelt post you've done...THANK YOU SO MUCH...And our prayers and love to you, your husband and your daughter. You DO know what true love is.
Thank you for being a wonderful wife and mother
Love PAPA D and MOMA D
well I have that Blood Mutation which causes me to clot I found out when I was pregnant, which closed the mystery to my fathers sudden death...I inherited it from his DNA. I have to take a baby aspirin a day so maybe taking 1 aspirin a day can be your number 10, they do say Bayer is what they tell people to take while having a heart attack.
Just seeing this post. Wow. How scary. So glad everything turned out ok. Thanks for your reminder to take care of ourselves.Ten (for me) is go with the flow.
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