Go Red For Women

In case you didn't know, February is American Heart Month.

Why should you care? Because heart problems can strike anyone..at any time.

On an early Saturday morning just over five years ago, our beautiful daughter was brought into the world via c-section. There weren't any seriously complications afterward, so with the exception of some serious water retention, I was ready to go home as soon as possible. On Monday afternoon, my husband drove me and our youngest daughter home from the hospital. We have an SUV and because of the swelling in my legs, climbing into the passenger side was very painful and difficult. The nurses all said swelling was normal after c-section and would go away in a few days.

That night, sleeping was tough. New baby, incision pain, swelling. I slept with two pillows under my head. The next night, same thing but a little worse. Wednesday night I couldn't sleep at all because I couldn't lay down. If I tried, I felt like the swelling in my legs was moving into my chest and within minutes, felt like I was suffocating. My heart raced. I thought I was having panic attacks made worse by sheer exhaustion. At about 5am, I had my husband call my doctor who told me to come to his office first thing in the morning.

I arrived at his office thinking at worst he'd send me home with a prescription for Xanax (or some other anti-anxiety medicine). Instead, he checked me, left the room for about 5 minutes, came back in and said "We are admitting you back into the hospital. You have post-partum cardio myopathy or heart failure caused by pregnancy."

What? Heart failure? I was 35 years old! Who has heart failure at 35? Apparently, I did. And what did he mean "caused by pregnancy"? That wasn't in any mom-to-be book I'd ever read.

I stayed in the hospital for almost 5 days - longer than when I was in for the c-section! I left with a lot less water retention, a ton of prescriptions, and a hatred of hospitals. I found out later from my cardiologist that my EF (ejection fraction - or the percentage of blood your left ventricle pumps out) was 17%. A normal EF is between 55-70%.

It's been five and half years, and until last January, my heath was terrible. I terified of working out, especially cardio, because I didn't want to strain my heart when just being over-weight was straining my heart already. See, the lovely little pills I've been taking since called beta-blockers help keep my heart rate and blood pressure down. They also make your metabolism slug. along. like. a. turtle.

In the past year, I've changed to eating about 60% organic food, I go to the gym 3-4 days a week, and after getting a Wii Fit last October, I try to do that several times a week also. I've lost about 20 pounds, as well, but still have more to go before I'm satisfied. Most importantly, when I first started doing cardio bicycle, my heart rate would jump to 160 in about 3 minutes. Now I do about 40 minutes at two levels higher and my heart rate stays about 145. So, my heart is getting better. My goal isn't just weight loss, I want to be off the beta-blocker.

So, I remind you again. February is American Heart Month. And here are some great sites you need to visit:

http://www.goredforwomen.org/

http://www.americanheart.org/

What are you doing to keep your heart healthy?