Heart-Warming Holidays, Never a Better Time

12/03/07 Living Well

I was fortunate enough to be home for Thanksgiving with my entire family. My parents, empty nesters for about two-and-half years, threw open their front and fridge doors to a gaggle of college students and fledgling professionals.

Amid the joyful, noisy reunion, my dad, a healthy, energetic man nearing retirement, mentioned he’d been having severe pain in his body—pain that had recently converged on his chest. Voicing our concern, my mom and I encouraged him to visit a doctor that week.

Early the next morning, after sleeping better than I had in months, I woke to a light down the hallway and the sound of my dad gasping in pain. Jumping up, I ran into the family room to find him, always an early riser, seated on the couch clasping his chest. The book he’d been reading had fallen to his blanket-draped lap. I stood there, staring blurry-eyed into the rigid face of my father and watched as the pains began to pass as quickly as they had come.

As his breathing slowed and became more even, I sat down across from him on the piano bench and began asking him what had happened. Having spent the last six months writing about heart health, my mind was whirling. We were soon joined by my mom who handed him the phone so he could call for an appointment with his primary care physician.

Initial tests and examinations didn’t indicate heart attack, but my dad’s doctor scheduled an appointment for a cardiac stress test a week later. Thankfully, he tested negative for any heart problems. Still, my dad is looking for ways to increase his physical fitness.

The rest of my stay was comparatively uneventful. But the experience left its mark. In this season of giving, health very well may be one of the best gifts anyone can give his or her loved ones.  There’s never a better time than now to resolve to live a healthier life.