Remembering My Mother
We hear a lot about breast cancer and AIDS, but rarely do we hear about the number one killer of women in America; heart disease. One year ago today my mother, a seemingly healthy woman, was lost to a heart attack. She’d had a physical only a month before wherein her doctor told her she was in superb shape. She’d never complained about chest pain or any of the common heart attack symptoms. The biggest tragedy of her death is that it could have been prevented.
We have a family history of heart disease. Both of my grandparents died from a heart attack, and her own brother died of a heart attack at 51. We thought because she lived a healthy, active life she was safe. This simply isn’t true, eating well and getting exercise aren’t enough, especially if heart attack runs in your family. In fact, 53% of women don’t know they’re at risk.
So what can you do? Encourage the women in your family to get a simple stress test from their doctors. A lot of problems can be detected early on this way, and if your family member has a problem the doctor can take appropriate medical precautions. Sometimes this is as simple as a prescription. Always talk with a doctor first about any health concerns, but in the mean time here are some steps recommended by the the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for reducing risk of heart disease:
- Know your blood pressure.
- Don’t smoke.
- Get tested for diabetes.
- Know your cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
- Maintain a healthy weight.
- If you drink, limit yourself to one drink a day.
- Find healthy ways to cope with stress.
I can’t emphasize enough the importance of not smoking and finding ways to cope with stress. Despite being otherwise healthy, my mother smoked for most of her life, and put in 30 years as a police rescue dispatcher, a very high stress career.
Karen Tomlinson was a loving wife, mother, and sister. She was an exemplary leader in her profession, and performed her job with dignity, dedication, respect, and honor. She had only just begun to enjoy retirement, but had spent it volunteering Visiting Nurse Service Hospice Care comforting people and their families in their final stages of life. This spring a tree was dedicated there in her memory. There is a hole in the heart of everyone who knew her. Karen Tomlinson was my mother, but she could just as easily be your mother, wife, sister, aunt or friend. Please take a moment to remind the women you love about the dangers of heart disease.
You can find out more information about heart health at these sites:
i lost my mum suddenly to heart attack recently, and it took us all by surprise.
i would never recover from this heart break, but i have continued on and life is on track now.