My brother just had a heart attack. He had classic chest
pain and immediately went to the ER. Before he could sneeze, he was transferred
from his small town to a regional center for a heart catheterization, where they
found a single vessel blockage. He had a stent placed and has no significant
damage. He’s doing great. He’s more upset that A&M lost to LSU.
I’m the one not handling it well.
You see, my brother is only five years older than me. He
exercises regularly, jogging 3 miles at a time. He’s even been to the Cooper
Clinic in Dallas
for all sorts of tests. Our father will be 80 years old in a few weeks, and he
has not had a heart attack. Why my brother? And, to the point of my worry, why
not me?
Now, I know that we all just gorged ourselves over
Thanksgiving, and Christmas is right around the corner. Any talk of diet and
exercise should wait until after the first of the year, right? If you are like
me, it takes awhile to get psyched up for this. Habits are hard to start and
easy to break. This needs to be a lifestyle decision. Mind you, I am not a
stranger to exercise… I just haven’t been very friendly with him lately.
If you are like me, there are things you just don’t really
want to change. I like my morning latte from Standpipe Coffee and cookies from
Confections (shout outs to Ben and Dawn!), and when I travel, I often seek out
nice restaurants. At 178 lb, many would say I am not overweight. The insurance
industry, however, would disagree. My BMI is right at 25, the cutoff for being
“overweight”. Scary word, that one, but not as frightening as “obese”, which a
significant percentage of Americans are now.
Dr. Huber, my internist, would like to see me lose 10 lb or
more. He told me so last year. In one ear and out the other… Actually, I did
lose weight, but gained it back. I should learn to schedule my appointments at
the low end of the scale.
As a cancer physician, I preach prevention and early
detection every day. The facts with cancer are irrefutable: diet, exercise, and
not smoking are three very important things we can do to help lessen our risk
of getting cancer. Well, those three things also happen to be the key to lowering
one’s risk of heart disease, which kills even more people than cancer.
We are fortunate to have access to incredible cardiac care
right here in Lufkin .
Truly excellent cardiologists and cardiac surgeons practice here. I would not
hesitate to have my heart cath done down the hallway from my office here at
Memorial if I had to. But like my cancer patients tell me, they really didn’t
want to ever see me professionally, and I’d just as soon keep my relationship
with my cardiology friends a social one.
I don’t want to be a “do as I say, not as I do” role model
and end up on the cardiac cath table in five years. I see Dr. Huber this month
to discuss what other measures – tests? medication? – I need to take for heart
disease prevention.
And, I’ve decided that December is a good time to start my
diet and exercise program. Yes, I’m going to enjoy Christmas! But maybe I can
limit my portion sizes some and NOT go for that second (or third) slice of
pecan pie! (Or that second cookie at Confections!)
