Heart Healthy

My Family Heart ...And The Choice I Make
I strive to exercise each day. I enjoy feeling fit and the sense of accomplishment I get from completing a run, a ride or whatever I do. The endorphins are a welcome feeling, exercise is good for us and there must be over 100 reasons why I do what I do. Let me detail in short one of the many reasons and it is a big one.

My Mom passed away last year at age 77, she lived a full and good life. Her heart gave out and fortunately she passed quickly and without complications. She had been diagnosed with colon cancer and was about to start treatment. She smoked for 60 years, had quit the last two years, but her heart gave out. She did not exercise, ate well enough and seemed to be pretty well for being 77. How long might she have lived had she implemented a minimal exercise program into her life? I wonder.

My Mom's Mother, I never knew. She passed away at age 40 of a heart attack. My Grandpa George lived to be 72, he passed away of a heart attack.

My Dad is 77. He is in pretty good shape. He picked up exercise regularly at about age 65 or so.
He has not been without problems health wise. Last year he had a quintuple bypass. He has a heart monitor implanted to regulate an inconsistent heartbeat.

It is clear that heart disease runs in my family. There is no kind of guarantee that all my exercise and healthy life choices will make any difference to my length of life. Sure I could get run over by a car and die any day. Given all the possibilities I have chosen to try to maximize my ability to keep my heart and cardio system a healthy one. It may help to keep me healthier longer in life, most likely I can live a better quality of life if not a longer one. Keeping fit just may keep me out of the hospital and that's worth working for. It just may help keep my own medical costs lower than what might be should I not work to be fit.

I don't live in fear of my family health history. I simply choose to do what I can to mitigate the potential downside and maximize the upside. Its a choice I make, its not a hard one and I enjoy the effort almost always. The results are worth the effort. And so it is what I do.