February 2, 2006
Women's Heart Week
I was completely shocked this evening when I found out my grandmother was being rushed to the hospital. It turns out she had a heart attack about five days ago and didn't even know it. I'll spare the long story, but as things stand right now, she will still require open-heart surgery (if she chooses to endure such an invasive, risky procedure at nearly 80 years old).
Of all the people I know, she is among the last I would expect to have heart problems, even considering her age. She has always been thin, active, and careful about what she eats. She seems more spry than people 20 and 30 years younger than she. Doctors have repeatedly told her that her heart was in great shape and she'd live to 100. As far as I know, her side of the family has no history of heart disease. The news was a terrible shock. I'm still in that strange mental state of shock one enters upon hearing bad news about loved ones.
These days, I almost always avoid posting this kind of stuff here. But the message tonight is that heart disease is the number one killer of women just like it is for men. (In fact, it's Women's Heart Week this week.) Women often have different symptoms (not the classic ones you think of) and, at least historically, tend to be under-diagnosed and under-treated. (I'm not sure if this has changed in recent years.) My grandmother had EKGs done within the last year, but not a stress test. Her doctor strongly encouraged her to have one even though she displayed no obvious symptoms, but she refused (as I'm sure many older people do). So I guess the message for tonight is for everyone to have tests done even if you're sure you're fine. My dad has lots of risk factors but he's such a stubborn ox he'll never see a doctor. I keep telling him we're going to have to stage an intervention to get him to go have a checkup, and I'm only half joking.
Take care of yourselves, people. (I'm restarting my aerobic exercise routine immediately, despite the fact that it always makes me even scrawnier than usual.)
02 Feb 1:12 | Link | Category: Site/Life News