Affairs of the Heart

If you are not a mass media consumer, you may not realize that February is Hearth Health Awareness month. I can only guess Valentine's Day prompted some marketing gurus at the American Heart Association to build a month of helpful information about our well-being around a well-engrained Hallmark holiday.

But I knew. I'd told myself years ago that when I turned 40, I was going to Heart Check America or a company like it to get my ol' ticker checked out, top to bottom. The deadline was due to losing both parents to heart failure before either reached age 70. Although there were other factors that led to their premature and sudden deaths, I sort of figured, I'd better keep on top of this.

At age 40, however, I was busy seeing my ob/gyn thanks to a wonderfuly suprising pregnancy that gave us our third son, and my attention was deflected from my heart's health to my fetus' health.

But my heart's back on my radar. I don't think it's good enough that I have run six or seven marathons and countless halfs, 10Ks, 5Ks. It's not good enough that I try to eat well. It's not good enough that I prefer my alcohol to come in the form of red, heart-healthy, wine or that my sweet tooth prefers the dark chocolate to other types. There are genetics at work here, and if there's something I need to know, I want to know it now and deal with it. Because let's face it, I'm going to be 60 years old when my baby (pictured) graduates from college, assuming he's on the 4-year-plan.

That's why tomorrow I head over to a local hospital for the whole work out. I hope the screenings for my lipid profile, glucose, blood pressure, and the like will confirm what I already know: I might want to lose a few pounds but otherwise, I'm heart healthy.

Heart disease is the #1 killer in America. C'mon, friends, get yours checked out, and if it's not in tip-top shape, do something about it now, not later.

With a glass of Cab-in-hand, cheeers!