Keep on pushing on

Well, I had my appointment with my cardiologist yesterday, and it couldn’t have gone any better. Prior to my appointment, I was pretty nervous. I was confident that everything would be just fine, but then again, why would a healthy 24 year old have a heart attack in the first place. I know that I’ve said that before, but I don’t think that question will ever leave my mind.

Anyways, as I was sitting in the waiting room, I couldn’t help but notice that people were staring at me. At first, I didn’t understand why; however, as I sat there and thought why, it all came to me. Everyone else in that room were well into their 50s or older, and then there was me, a young, 25 year old. I can almost guarantee that they were all wondering what I was doing there. I couldn’t help but smile and chuckle to myself. It brought back memories of cardio rehab program, where every session I had to explain to at least 1 person on what happened.  Yes, I was the youngest cardio rehab patient Methodist hospital had seen.

Finally, after waiting for what seemed like forever, the doctor was able to see me. The first words that he said to me were, “you look healthier, your skin color looks better.” I thought to myself, dang, I must have looked like crap the past year! He sat down and we talked about how I was feeling, what I’ve been doing, and went over the list of medications.

I had explained to him that overall, I was feeling pretty good. I talked about my exercise schedule and my experiences so far, and he was ecstatic! He was so glad and proud that I’d really changed my exercise routine in just one year. He was actually impressed that I was doing the HIIT class (see last posting about that).

He listened to my heart, looked at my readings, and said everything looked good. I did have a higher heart rate then what he wanted, but it didn’t seem to bother him. He said he would see me in another 6 months and to just keep on pushing on. I couldn’t believe it! I was bracing for the worst, but I didn’t even need to have any tests done. I was beyond thrilled, but yet shocked. I was hoping he would start to reduce some of my medications, but I need to remind myself, one step at a time.

As I was driving home from my appointment, I finally realized something. Even though I had been through something very traumatic and one of the worst experiences in my life, I was able to change such a negative situation into something positive. I know that I mentioned this in my last post, but I can officially say, thanks to the doctor, that through hard work and determination, my heart is now stronger!

I can honestly say that this not only has made my heart stronger, but it’s also made me a stronger individual as well.  It opened my eyes to a whole new world, “brighter eyes” as my mom would say. I have learned that ANYONE can turn ANYTHING bad into something good! I’ve also learned that life can change in a blink of an eye, so instead of sitting back and waiting for opportunities to happen, you need to create them yourself. Don’t be afraid to be yourself and go after what you want. Follow your dreams; there is no one that can stop you, but yourself. Even if you’re up against all odds, if you put your mind to overcome it, you can get through anything.

I‘d like to say thank-you to all my friends and family for all of your words of encouragement through this entire process. Thank-you for listening to me when I would go on a rant, giving me hugs when I needed it, a shoulder to cry on, and just being there for me all the time. I really do think that without your text messages, calls, emails, and facebook messages of words of encouragement, I wouldn’t be where I am today. You wouldn’t believe what a simple message of hope would do; it allowed me to find my inner strength to keep on moving forward.