Sunday 14 February 2016

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.





12 comments:

  1. Our body is an amazing factory...it is mindblowing to understand even a bit of its working. We must take care of our body no doubt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for visiting Janu. Not just an amazing factory but a mind boggling piece of engineering! I totally agree with you on taking care of our body. :)

      Delete
  2. Well said...heart healthy...body healthy :)
    All organs are equally important

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Ruchira, for stopping by & for sharing your thoughts.

      Delete
  3. love is so small in front of a healthy heart and mind. Very well written post :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. It is often that people take their hearts for granted, and end up in dire straits. They tend to think, i am fine, nothing will happen to me.. How wrong they could be !! The concept of regular exercise and regular health checks cannot be emphasized more in this era of sedentary lifestyles and fast food culture. Having said all that, there is still no guarantee :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Totally agree with you on this Ravi! :) Thanks for stopping by.

      Delete
  5. This is something that I can relate to. I've seen people who are too young to collapse fall down like a rag doll. Being confident about one's health is one thing, but being arrogant that such a pitfall won't possibly affect us is just idiotic. Sadly, at the end of the day, like Ravi AV pointed out, there is still no guarantee. It would be wise to live healthy till we are alive :-D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, Book and Ink. Yes, the less health problems we have to deal with as we grow older, the better it is for us and our loved ones :)

      Delete
  6. Prathima, it is always fascinating to learn about how our body works - and with such fantastic coordination. It can even heal itself before giving us a sign that it needs help! Very nice post! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for dropping by & your kind words, Vidya. What you say is true. Human body is indeed a fascinating piece of engineering & chemistry. :)

      Delete