HOLIDAY HEART SYNDROME REVIEW FROM CARDIAC REHAB

Holiday heart syndrome information hits home when you hear about it during a session in cardiac rehab.

Everyone in the room, except the staff, wore a heart monitor power pack strapped around their neck with three contacts attached to wires.

White contact attached to the right collar bone, the other two on the side below the ribs.

Not what I’d call a room full of boozers, but that was part of the holiday heart syndrome talk.

I’d heard of broken heart syndrome, never holiday heart. I suspect there are more syndromes out there.

The big take-away was how much booze a heart patient could safely drink.

Why do heart patients need a warning about how much to drink?

Because cardio rehab is based on reality, and people like to tip one regardless of their condition.

Hard Numbers For Alcohol Consumption

One ‘drink’ equals one ounce of alcohol.

It breaks down to one shot of hard liquor, or one twelve ounce beer, or a short pour of wine.

For women: One drink.

For men: Two drinks.

From CNN:

“People who are not alcoholics would go from an office party, to a private party that night to having relatives over the next day, drinking in each scenario,” Sinatra said. “Over a short period of time you can call that binge drinking.”

From most evidence binge drinking is a problem that leads to a bad outcome.

“It is thought that AFib in holiday heart syndrome is related to overindulgence of alcohol,” Campbell said, which can short circuit the heart’s electrical system, change electrolyte levels (or salts), in the blood and increase the release of stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol.”

Does that sound like a good time? Or cause to visit the local ER.

One Take On Holiday Heart Syndrome From Cardio Rehab

The view of the room shows older people working though their heart issues with exercise.

Some have had heart valves replaced, others have had less invasive treatments.

And meds like blood thinners.

This is where drinking comes in.

Start tanking it hard, one drink after another, and you get dehydrated which results in thicker blood.

Thicker blood works the heart harder, which isn’t something a heart patient wants.

Our circulatory system isn’t as efficient with thicker blood.

This is my comparison: cement.

For good flow on a hot day mix the cement a little thicker; on a cold day mix it thinner. Or is it the reverse?

Either way, drink too much and what do you get? Cement. Don’t harden your heart that way.

Make A Holiday Plan

You’ve heard this before, and maybe repeated it: Your body is a temple, not a landfill, a dump, or a recycling center.

Watch what you put into it because you’ll live with the results.

And you’ll never know how you’ll respond to a breakdown until it happens to you.

If you’re a powerhouse with the world on a string you still might turn into a whining, needy, puddle of grief.

Then, when you talk it over with a professional counselor, a non-judging someone who gets paid to listen, you’ll feel better. They will enlighten you as to the folly of your ways.

Everyone else will think, ‘Well, what did you expect from doing what you’ve been doing,’ even if they don’t say it out loud.

From family to loved ones to complete strangers it’s the same.

Not that you got what you deserved, but no surprise at the consequences for your behavior, habits, and lifestyle.

I met a man in the 70’s, an Army man, who said he smoked seven packs of cigarettes a day. He countered it by running seven miles a day. Looked to be in his late thirties.

Me: How is there time in the day to get the running and smoking done?

Him: I smoke while I run.

Me: Well, that’s a time saver.

What are the chances he’s still alive?

Holiday Heart Filled With Joy

I like to think of my Mom and Dad, my brothers and sister, during holidays.

My Dad was born in 1930, a Great Depression baby. My Mom in 1935.

They had harder lives than I’ve had, but I’ve had a small sample of hardships along the way.

A conversation with my eldest son revealed a few misconceptions.

Like a good father I told him things about my past. He had the impression I grew up a poor boy from a poor family.

So we reviewed the circumstances of how things were for summer jobs.

I mowed lawns for money as a twelve year old. At fifteen I built trailers for Coos Bay Marina. I worked for the school district moving irrigation pipes and stripping floors at sixteen. The next summer I was on the slime-line at Hallmarks Fisheries in Charleston.

The summer after senior year I was on the Oregon All-Star wrestling team that toured the midwest and finished with the national championships at University of Iowa.

After freshman year in college I worked at a saw mill in Coos Bay.

I joined the Army after the saw mill instead of returning to college.

Clarification For History’s Sake

Kid: This sounds like self-inflicted hardship.

Me: Yes, I made choices.

Kid: So you weren’t poor?

Me: My parents had professional jobs and four kids. They bought a house, then built their next one. We had a camper, a boat, a truck. They provided for us all.

Kid: You decided to work manual labor and join the Army? Why?

Me: I had a younger brother and sister and didn’t want to ask my parents for much. My older brother did the same things and I followed him to the fishery where he was the head-cutter, and the saw mlll where he had a better job than the green chain.

Kid: Why the Army?

Me: I wanted to mix with a different group.

Kid: But the Army?

Me: They were a different group, but they were my people. From poor kids getting a step up, to college grads looking for a specialty, to war fighters who wanted to learn the trade, they were all there.

Kid: Why you?

Me: I got a tryout for the All Army Wrestling Team.

Kid: That was your plan?

Me: And I failed miserably and still had two years of service to fill.

Kid: You couldn’t quit?

Me: It was the new all-volunteer Army. I could have quit. I called my Dad about it. He said, “Do you want to come home?” I said yes. “Then finish the time you signed up for.” Some did quit.

Last Word On Holiday Heart Syndrome

If you think your story is finished, you’re wrong. Reading this proves it, in case you wondered.

You may have done everything worth doing and told everything worth telling, but there’s the possibility of misunderstanding.

Why not use this time to clear things up?

You know who you are, so why not share it with people important to you.

Take time to learn more about them. They’re worth it.

Show your holiday heart without the holiday heart syndrome.

Make it a Happy Thanksgiving, not a memory of ‘what went wrong.”