Be active, be healthy, be happy.

On June 10th I went camping and experienced chest tightness.  Okay, it wasn't new to me but it was pretty intense.  I'd been blowing this off for months because I'd been told it was my asthma.  Hmmm... it wasn't asthma.  On June 22nd I went to my primary care physician and she requested a stress test.  On June 29th I went in to get the results of said stress test and was sent for a angiogram.  Little did I know that that was the turning point of my life.  That afternoon two stints were inserted into my heart to clear a 98% and 86% blockages.  Life would never be the same.  If I hadn't gone in I would never have survived the heart attack that would have struck me down within two weeks.  I was very very lucky.

All the while my heart was slowing in efficiency, my body was slowing too.  I was enrolled into Cardiac Rehabilitation.  I learned a lot!  30 minutes of exercise three times a week to build up the strength of my heart muscle.  15 minutes of weight training to strengthen up muscles that have atrophied over the slow process of dieing.  And classes twice a week to learn about a heart healthy diet, what my medications do, what the future holds for me.

So the point is that my journey started on June 10th when I was encouraged to make that appointment and today ended as I graduated from rehab.  It's been a long haul these past several months for sure, but one that I'd willingly do all over again if it means having a quality of life that enables me to do THINGS!  Fish.  Walk.  Camp.  Hike.  Be active, be healthy, be happy.