We have been jolted into submission to pay attention to heart health by the arresting story in the news about the young GI who was was skydiving for the first time in tandem with an instructor tethered to his back.
Unfortunately, the highly experience instructor died of a heart attack while airborne at the beginning of the 45 minute decent to the ground. The GI had the good sense to recall some combat videos he had seen about paratroopers, kept his calm, and safely landed himself and the instructor. The sad ending is that CPR could not bring the instructor back to life.
That same weekend we heard about the death of a man in our church, in his late fifties, who had spent his last eight years in a nursing home because of a debilitating stroke. He has four teenage children. A severe stroke has landed another church friend, Lisa, 48, first into the hospital, and now, thankfully into rehab. Lisa and her husband, Craig have a blended family of nine kids. Prayers are needed for all these wonderful people, and for their families who are having to struggle with grief, recoveries and healing.
With Valentine's Day as the focus with hearts, the stories we've just talked about all have a common thread, heart attacks and stokes brought on by weaknesses in the heart. Heart health is something that few of us focus on until we have a frightening episode.
To shed more light on what needs to happen to maintain a healthy heart, I am going to repeat some information from our blog last February, and remind all women in the Chicago area to try and attend and support the "Go Red for Women" event.
Go Red for Women Luncheon
Fee: Please contact the American Heart Association for more information.
Location:
Macy's
For anyone outside
Some arresting facts to motivate us to keep our hearts healthy:
- Coronary heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death in the
- Stroke is the No. 3 cause of death in the
- Surviving a stroke can have a devastating impact, not only on the survivor, but on everyone who cares about them.
- Whether you are experiencing any warning signs of a heart attack or stroke,call
Know these warning signs of stroke and teach them to others. Every second counts:
· Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
· Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
· Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
· Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
· Sudden, severe headache with no known cause
1 comment:
The heart is an amazing muscle. But the liver one-ups it.
My story is the same as that of about 70,000,000 other folks with aging parents in our country. The story comes from a common question: our home or the rest home?
My choice gave me the chance to repay my mom for birthing and raising my two brothers and me.
We moved my mom into our home for the last 5 ½ years of her life and it was a challenge to say the least. There were no books on in-my-home elder care and no organized online databases for the information and products needed for in-my-home elder care.
In spite of extensive formal education and a varied business career, I was not prepared. It took nearly three years to catch up with the learning curve. It was something new most days and nights and it was relentless. But the rewards were profound.
To help the millions coming behind us with aging parents, I resolved to put a package in place that would prepare them and help them through. The results of my efforts are a book and two organized online databases for elder care information and products. Mama Moves In is the book about deciding to proceed, preparing for the “move in”, marshalling the assets, pulling the family into the process, consulting the experts, making the home ready and living through the experience. ResearchPro are the organized online databases.
I’d like to share my experience with you and your audience. What I have done will be of no benefit to anyone if we can’t reach the millions of people who need the elder care package.
Please help.
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