About a year ago we found out that my grandmother has a heart condition. Apparently this is something that has been with her for a very long time, but because she has had a stroke, we were only focusing on one part of her health. As it turned out, she has congestive heart failure. Even though this is not necessarily a fatal diagnosis, it will take years off of her life. There are many people like my grandmother walking around who have no idea that they may have heart problems.
Most of the time those with a heart condition do not know it until they have a heart attack. Though congestive heart failure is not that which you would consider a common heart condition, there are many people who have it who have no idea what is going on. There are many other people, like my grandfather, who have the more common type of heart condition. He was just in the hospital a few weeks ago because one of his arteries was blocked. As it turned out, he had three or four problem areas around his heart that had to be corrected.
As you move through life, one of the last things you want to do is think about aging and dying. However, it is important that you see your doctor and a regular basis to rule out many things. One of those things should be a heart condition. You may not want to think about it, or believe that can happen to you, but developing a heart condition can be a very serious threat to your life. It is far better that you know what is going on so that you can fix the problem. Don’t skip your doctor’s appointments just because you don’t want to know.
Having a heart condition is not the end of the world. There have been many advances in the medical field that allow a person with a heart condition to live a long and healthy life. The best defense against a heart attack is preventing it. If there have been people in your family who have had a heart condition, you have to suspect that this may become a problem for you as well. Make sure you talk to your doctor about all of the serious illnesses that have been in your family, and make sure you get the proper testing done when your doctor recommends it. You may say that you don’t care, but I can assure you that your family wants you around for as long as possible.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Control Of Congestive Heart Failure
Though I have been through a lot in my life, I was not prepared to hear the doctors say that my grandmother had congestive heart failure. She had already been though so much. She had a stroke when she was in her fifties, and she was never the same after that. She was always healthy though, and until this, had been OK for the most part. Now we had to face something that scared me. I didn’t want to go through it again, though I do realize that grandparents don’t live forever. I just didn’t want to face losing her now.
What I didn’t know about congestive heart failure is that the term is a little off. The heart is failing, but it may take awhile. There are ways to live longer, sometimes years longer when you are diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and you certainly don’t have to start making funeral plans if you hear those words. The doctors assured us that if they got the excess fluid out of her system she should be able to go home soon.
Since then, my grandmother has had to go to the hospital once, but seems to be doing well right now. My grandfather has been taking care of her, but he’s not as young as he used to be. He now has some nurses who come in each afternoon to give him a break. She has lived with congestive heart failure for a few years now, and by all accounts, she isn’t going to leave us any time soon. You can never count on that, and congestive heart failure can turn at any time, but it’s good to know that she’s still here.
She’s also happy. That’s what is important to me. She seems to be better than she has been in a long time despite the diagnosis of congestive heart failure. Perhaps she has been looking back on her life and perhaps she likes what she sees. She has always been a wonderful woman, and the world could use more like her. She hasn’t let congestive heart failure stop her from enjoying what she loves, even if she can’t do what she used to do. She seems to be happy to see us when we visit, and she’s still got that sparkle in her eye that I remember form when she was young and healthy. That’s all I need to see.
What I didn’t know about congestive heart failure is that the term is a little off. The heart is failing, but it may take awhile. There are ways to live longer, sometimes years longer when you are diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and you certainly don’t have to start making funeral plans if you hear those words. The doctors assured us that if they got the excess fluid out of her system she should be able to go home soon.
Since then, my grandmother has had to go to the hospital once, but seems to be doing well right now. My grandfather has been taking care of her, but he’s not as young as he used to be. He now has some nurses who come in each afternoon to give him a break. She has lived with congestive heart failure for a few years now, and by all accounts, she isn’t going to leave us any time soon. You can never count on that, and congestive heart failure can turn at any time, but it’s good to know that she’s still here.
She’s also happy. That’s what is important to me. She seems to be better than she has been in a long time despite the diagnosis of congestive heart failure. Perhaps she has been looking back on her life and perhaps she likes what she sees. She has always been a wonderful woman, and the world could use more like her. She hasn’t let congestive heart failure stop her from enjoying what she loves, even if she can’t do what she used to do. She seems to be happy to see us when we visit, and she’s still got that sparkle in her eye that I remember form when she was young and healthy. That’s all I need to see.
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