Have a heart #hearthealth

The news of a quite young cousin hospitalized for a by-pass surgery came as a shock, as he had been healthy. It's one thing to hear or read about these things happening to someone whom we don't know, but when it happens to a dear one or ourselves, it can hit really hard.

Once I got over the initial shock, I turned to the Internet to gain some understanding of his condition. I was also interested to know more about the procedure that would be performed. Wiki and Youtube came to my rescue. 

I read up on and watched videos of double bypass, triple bypass surgeries. Brought home the point that ANYONE is susceptible, age be damned! It was interesting to note the causes of the blocking of the arteries, how some of these surgeries are performed with the stopping of the heart (and later restarted) and some without stopping the heart. Saw just how delicate the arteries supplying blood to the heart muscles were and how deftly the procedure was performed. Wondered how super confident the surgeons must be of their knowledge and surgical skills; how rock steady their hands must be in order to perform successfully such a complex, intense, delicate, life-saving procedure with such precision; how well co-ordinated the surgical team must be; how immensely satisfied the surgical & care giving teams must be, once they see their patients alive & back on their feet. Wondered if they felt like God for giving a fresh lease of life to their patients!

Image courtesy : Google

Image courtesy : Google

As the surgery videos progressed, I watched with growing fascination the fist sized organ beating away industriously as if - it was afraid to stop lest that human dies; it knew just how high the stakes were on its continued functioning; it was saying, "You make whatever repairs you need to while I continue my job". This little vital engine starts its function when the foetus is 4 weeks old and keeps on working tirelessly ever since. Had a lump in my throat and for the first time, felt ever so grateful to my heart for keeping me alive, without even one little complaint. 

This incident made me see in a state of greater awareness & different perspective, the health of my own heart. Felt ashamed that I hadn’t paid much attention earlier. It was time to take a real hard look on the changes I needed to make sure that my heart stays healthy and started taking action. Started with eating healthy, having an exercise regimen, regular health checks. It is a work in progress.

 There are advertisements of health food, healthy oils saying "your heart will say thank you to you". I would say that we should say "Thank you" not only to our hearts, but to other organs too!

I implore you to make a conscious effort towards a healthy lifestyle. That would be so worth it. Why wait till something untoward happens?  

Have a heart.  Dil dadhakne do. Without any problems.

Please note : Written for the Blogging Community: An initiative by The Book Club