The Worst is Over.

 
This past weekend was very long, but I am happy to say that my mother has survived a quintuple bypass surgery. For those who do not know what that means, it is the replacement of 5 arteries in which new ones are taken from different area of the body to bypass the old ones. This procedure is extremely difficult but routine in this day and age. So the worst is over and I am left wondering what is on the horizon as my family gets older.

I turn forty in less than two years and I am really trying not to think about getting older. Yet, with every ache and pain that I have I begin to wonder when my body will begin to fail me. While my health has been very good, I try not to over diagnose myself with any potential issues that I may have. It is very easy to go on WebMD and become a hypochondriac.

On the other hand, it is just as easy to be in denial of issues that your body may have. I think that most people (men in particular) think themselves to be generally healthy and will ignore common signs. Men seem to think that most pain or discomfort will just go away eventually when in reality they are just afraid to find out that something may be wrong with them. Perhaps deeper then that is the idea that perhaps most people do not want to admit that youth is slowly passing them by so excuses are made for mysterious pains.

I have fallen into this behavior a few times in which I either attribute my headaches to a possible brain tumor or not giving credence to a minor pain I may have else where. The other day I was nervous because I felt a soreness in the left side of my chest. I was fully prepared fight a panic attack because I had no idea where this could be coming from. Was I going to have some sort of heart condition? When I got to my car and put on my seat belt the pain returned and I realized why I was sore. I had stopped short while driving the other day and the pain aligned right where the belt was...

Now that my move is a few weeks away, I will begin the process of finding a new doctor and dentist. Despite my ongoing fear of the dental industry, I know that I will need to find a good one. Finding a PCP will be equally important because in two years I am looking at brand new tests that I am quite sure I am not ready for. I realize that it is my job as a child of my parents to not make the same mistakes that they have. That will require doing things that they have either waited to as they got older or just changing things now so I may not being laid up in a hospital later.

As I mentioned, the worst is over. My mother has brand new tubing in her heart. We are looking at her being released tomorrow or Saturday. This is her second chance and I am glad that my move to NYC is in line with her future rehab and recovery process.