One heart

My second uncle was due for heart Angioplasty on Monday but it was cancelled because the heart surgeons found multiple calcified blockages in one artery. He had a stroke two years back and was found at his home a day later. It's a miracle he survived.

A close friend of mine who runs, hikes and fit as a fiddle received an emergency call from his doctor who earlier performed a stress test on him, telling him to immediately check into a hospital for follow up because he detected heart abnormality. He is only 41 years of age and he ended up with a stent placed in his major artery which saved his life. The above picture shows exactly where it was blocked. Severe occlusions to that artery is also named widow maker. This term is used because the left main coronary and/or the left anterior descending supply blood to large areas of the heart. This means that if these arteries are abruptly and completely occluded it will cause a massive heart attack that will likely lead to sudden death.

I believe there was a few recent cases of such healthy young people who just collapsed and died but it didn't make any difference to us. It didn't hit me hard at that time. The fact that my dad passed away due to a heart attack many years back and his body was only found a few days later did not make me a wiser person in terms of health either then but when i started to receive alerts available every 30 minutes telling me that my blood pressure and heart rate is a little irregular, i am keeping watch and have sceduled a stress test for myself and my family next month. Let's face it, our body is aging and whether we accept it or not, one day our engines will need a break. Do I want to service my body along the way so that i can avoid a possible breakdown that may be unrepairable or should i be ignorant because there's just no signs or symptoms? The choice is always ours and we are responsible for our own life and the consequences it has on our family. But we have only one body and one life. Let us treasure it.