.....10 days ago, life was clicking along rather nicely in our household but that sense of peace and security was abruptly interrupted by my spouse's trip to an Emergency Room, an overnight in the hospital, an angiogram, a blinking-light ambulance transfer to another hospital, an angioplasty and stent insertion! Whoops, where did that come from?
My spouse is on the slim side, does not smoke, exercises (sort of) regularly, gets annual physical checkups, takes a daily aspirin and a prescribed blood pressure med, vitamins, eats a low-fat, low-salt diet - oh and he does take a touch of red wine AND dark chocolate from time to time, which, he claims, are definitely for medicinal purposes only! So where did that silly occluded artery and accompanying sidekick clot come from? Well, folks, as the cardiologist put it - "your daddy had it before you and congratulations, you've got it now!"
We've always concentrated on the fact that my spouse's dad had serious diabetic issues; it never occurred to us that the heart issues were anywhere in sight as strong genetic factors. However, it now seems there was little more than that genetic trait to trigger all of the heart's malfunction. So, we might have delayed the issue but perhaps there is no way we could have totally sidestepped it.
So, in addition to all of the issues I've just listed (and there will be more in yet another post), I wonder.....genetics has so firm a grip on our bodies and sometimes in our minds is there nothing we can do to halt the genetic landslide, the proverbial boulder that sits atop a mountain with a single pebble holding it in place?
I think so, I believe so, I swear it to be thus......without attention to the diet, exercise, etc. my spouse would not have lived to be 65 years with no sign of heart malfunction. We could have ignored the physical aspects of our lives and met up with that emergency room and not as happy an ending as we're now living into. I believe that we have to rage against the enemy of genetics in every way we are capable of understanding. This may sound close to denial to some readers, but to others of you, I say - hear ye, hear ye - rage against the genetic weaknesses in that fig tree of yours with all the heart and mind that you have. Then thank God, when you've done all you can to safeguard the miracle of life, for the healing hands of your doctors' and nurses. Don't let your genetic fate step too easily into your being - keep your eyes open for the danger - but never, never give in to genetic traits as your lot in life!
So there you have it - "some" of what has been on my mind lately.....anything particular on yours?
you have made a believer of me. i hope you receive your own words with the same passion and belief that you pass on to the rest of us!
ReplyDeletexoxoxooxoxoxo
here, here for happy endings!
Wow, I had no idea this was going on in your lives. I'm so thankful for the positive outcome.
ReplyDeleteYou're right of course, we have to rage against the enemy of genetics. I take after my father physically (apart from the obvious...) and although the circulatory problems and heart attack that took him were partly caused by his smoking, I have become more and more aware of the need for healthy exercise recently. (And am actually enjoying it a bit.)
I have a friend who is adopted and she struggles with not knowing the genetic traits of her natural parents, who she has been unable to track down. Must be difficult.
Oh and by the way I agree about the medicinal benefits of red wine and chocolate. In moderation of course.
Hi Tess, Just returned from weekend away with Lucy:).....and am catching up - thank you so much for your comments. It's been a wild couple of weeks for us. Steve sees the cardiologist on Tuesday for follow up. In the meantime, we've canceled our trip to Turkey that was slated for the end of this month. Thanks as always for your comments!
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