If you read
my last blog entry, you might have realized how precious life is and how it can
change in a heart beat! Most of the time adverse events are a blessing in
disguise, as you can prosper and learn from them. Many things have
happened since what I called "The Adventure of all Adventures."
First and
probably foremost is that I have been given a second life, and I don't take
that lightly. I appreciate things everyday now that in the past maybe
were taken for granted. For example my wife, my family, my friends, and having an
attitude of gratitude for all the things that we enjoy.
Recently I
graduated from a six week cardiac therapy course that consisted of eighteen
ninety minute sessions on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. They were held at our local Banner hospital, only
minutes from our home. The class was made up of five people with different
heart ailments. On check in we would put on a heart monitor, have our
temperature checked and blood pressure taken.
We would
exercise on a treadmill and an elliptical trainer for twenty minutes each and
thirty minutes each on Wednesday. Then it was on to exercising with
weights, then stretching. This usually followed with a movie on different
facets of health and a discussion lead by the nurse and questions and comments
from fellow classmates.
The
exercises were important because it would help build a habit that would
continue for a lifetime. The health lectures, with take home handouts, I
considered to be of utmost importance because we learned the importance of
proper diet and exercise among many other health issues. I made the comment
several times in class that I wished I would have been aware of proper diet
when we were much younger, but the usual response was "would we have paid
attention?" Probably not. When we're thirty we think we're bulletproof,
then when we get older we learn the downfalls of things we should have been
practicing all those years.
We learned the importance of
reading food labels. If you're on a diet you look for
"calories," if you're diabetic you become aware of "sugar,"
if you recuperating from heart problems you look for "sodium." In our
lectures we discussed many things pertaining to "A happy and healthy
life." One of the big lessons was everyone should cut down on sugar
and salt!
