It has been over a month since I wrote, and not that everyone (or anyone) is following my health concerns, but I do want to continue to write our family’s story with the hope that it might help someone else.

I’ll begin with my sister, Bobbi, who is 68 (eleven years older than I). I only give her age because I think it is a significant part of our story. When she heard my score from the cardiac calcium CT scan, she scheduled one. My score was 749, which was labeled as “extremely severe” for my age and gender. Bobbi’s score was over 2200! I guess that had I not gotten tested and kept living life as I had been, in eleven years mine might have been that high. She has had a stress test, which was irregular, and a heart cath. She is also on medication, so now all three of us siblings are being treated for heart disease. I must add that my sister is active, eats healthy foods, and is tiny. One would never look at her and think ‘heart disease’.

I saw my cardiologist last week. It is the first time I have seen him since I had my stress test, and I had questions on some inconsistencies in report. He agreed that some of the notes made no sense, but also said that overall I had done well with the exercise portion. He diagnosed me with coronary artery disease. This was not a shock as our school clinic’s nurse practitioner said that is what I have. I just wanted the doctor to confirm. I will continue on my medicine and see him in six months unless I have issues before that. He also said that he believes my tiredness is related to my allergies rather than my heart. So, the visit was pretty uneventful.

I have felt pretty good overall. The heat is still an issue, and it seems the heat is not leaving any time soon. I get short of breath at times, and have some fluttering in my chest. My LDL cholesterol is still higher than my cardiologist would like; he wants it below 70 and it is in the 80s. One way to lower it is exercise, and although I have always exercised a few times a week, I have slacked off from what I used to do (to put it mildly!). Last week I started getting up at 5:00 am and going for a run before school. So far, it hasn’t been bad at all. The results are definitely making it worth the effort. I have more energy throughout the day; I am happier; and my running is beginning to improve. I don’t know if it is related, but even my stomach feels better during the day. I feel like I have more patience with some of my more challenging kiddos at school. This not only benefits the kids, but since my doctor told me to try to avoid stress as much as possible, it helps me to be less stressed.

Because it is still dark outside, I don’t listen to podcasts like I do in the evening (I want to be fully aware of my surroundings), but I have found that I enjoy the quiet, and can think about my day, or sometimes have a little chat with God. Yesterday morning before leaving for football, I was able to run four miles, with only two short walk breaks. I stopped my watch so that I only counted actual running. I ran five days this past week, and I have not done that in a couple of years. My legs are tired, but it is actually kind of nice to have sore legs do to exercise.

I also should be doing some strength training and yoga to help my aging body, but I want to focus on running first. This winter when I am inside more, I will add those. Yoga really makes my joints feel better. I realize this is a poor excuse, but I did yoga at our old house because we had a workout room that had huge windows all around, and I loved being out there, even to exercise. Now my space is in a window-less basement, and I find it much more difficult to get motivated to go down there. I have to get beyond that at some point — just not today.

I know that my issues are not earth-shattering, and that so many have much worse diagnoses. I know many are dealing with grief, cancer, financial instability, family issues, abuse, and on and on. Life is hard. I only share because if anyone, particularly women, is at risk for heart disease, maybe that person will now be proactive. I feel that there are those doctors who are very dismissive of women who have concerns, and I firmly believe that we have to speak up and advocate for ourselves. As I have posted, I have good blood pressure, my EKGs are fine, and I am active. None of that matters because I also have high cholesterol and a terrible family history. If you have concerns, talk to your doctor. If he or she doesn’t listen, get a new doctor. Find someone who listens.

Have a great day…and if you feel so inclined or think someone else can benefit from reading, please share this post.

This photo is from my Thursday morning run. I was able to go a little later because I was off for an appointment. Because of this, I was able to experience this beautiful sunrise. When our world gets ugly, remember the simplicity of God’s beauty.