The “Quiet” side of a heart attack/heart disease
The other day my husband asked me a simple question, do you know of any farmers who’ve had a heart attack or heart disease? The reason being that it was heart month and his organization wanted to do an interview. I jumped at the opportunity to reach out to my fellow heart attack “survivors” to find someone who would like to share their story and … nothing. What I discovered is that not everybody likes to share their experiences around heart issues. It made me ask myself why? I’m an open book when it comes to my heart attack but what I found out is that this is not always the case.
It made me start to ask a few questions. Are farmers just stoic people who don’t want to share? Is it about gender, women like to talk more? Don’t get mad at me for that last comment. We all know it’s true… well, at least for me. If we talk about our heart issues does that make us weak? Will people judge us because we had a heart attack? Will people think if only he/she would have taken better care of themselves this wouldn’t have happened? If people know my story will it limit my employment opportunities? Will people treat me different and be afraid to be around me?
I won’t pretend to know the right answers to these questions but one thing is for sure, we need to talk and heal. Through sharing our stories we become part of a unique community who have had a traumatic event and lived to tell about it.
My goal for the last four years has been to find other people like me. But because a heart attack is something that happens on the inside with no outward signs its hard to find other survivors. I wish it was as easy as somebody wearing a name tag that says “Hi my name is Melissa and I’m a heart attack survivor”. Many organizations, for example Susan G. Komen, have a big presence nationwide and are well established. You see the color pink and think cancer. There are many groups and volunteers within this organization that are there to help people go through the cancer journey. This is not necessarily true within the heart realm. I have struggled for years on how to go about organizing groups of heart attack survivors. Do I stand outside Cardiac Rehab and grab people as they come out? Hey want to join my group?? Do I put up posters at the cardiology offices? Or, simply by word of mouth? Who would have thought that people who have heart attacks or heart disease would be so hard to find? Did you know nearly 48% of all Americans have cardiovascular disease? https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190131084238.htm Look to the person next to you, chances are one of you is impacted. So no matter who it might be from a farmer to a young women people need to talk and share their stories. Why you ask? Because we can’t live in silence and pretend it didn’t happen. Although our heart is internal with no external signs it impacts all aspects of our lives. By simply talking and sharing your story you are helping others to heal and not feel isolated. We can’t be afraid to ask for help or simply be a friend to listen or lend an ear.
I’m excited to say that on February 29th I will be meeting with other “Survivors” for the first time to have coffee and talk. Currently, this group is just a few but my dream is to have many others join us. If you are interested in joining feel free to let me know
