How Healthy Is My Heart?

I fell in my home. It was in the afternoon on a very cold day. I was watching TV, keeping occupied inside instead of braving the cold and walking outdoors. As is known to happen to grandmas, I had the urgent need to use the bathroom. You’ve seen the commercials, so you know how this goes. I threw the blanket off my lap, not realizing it was still wrapped around my legs. Then, bam! When I went to stand, I fell flat on my side.

Getting Up After a Fall

As I was lying still, I saw blood under my head. I slowly got up, saw more blood, and got to work cleaning my wound and the floor. Soon after, John joined me and looked at the side of my head. He insisted on taking me to an urgent care. I shooed the idea away until my head started pounding. Then I agreed. At the urgent care, the staff was very helpful, and I walked away with three staples.

Round Two in the Urgent Care

The next morning, my head was better, but now my right foot hurt. We went to Bryan’s urgent care without any disagreements from me this time. After X-rays, I was put into a walking boot because of a fracture in my foot. I could only think, “What the heck? An injury?” This was a first for me.

I know I will heal fine and be back to playing pickleball and taking long walks in a couple of months. However, it did cause me to think about my age and my personal expiration date.

Finding My Heart Age

I routinely go to my primary care physician, and he’s never put up any red flags about my longevity. Still, I was curious to find out if my heart age was the same as my chronological age. I remember seeing something in his office about comparing those two ages through an online questionnaire. My daughters and grandkids were all concerned about me. Everyone would be on my back if I didn’t look into it.

So, I took the questionnaire called HeartAware. It was easy to complete, even for an old lady like myself. I couldn’t recall all of my health information, but by going through my old “MyChart” entries, I figured it out.

My HeartAware Results

The results of the questionnaire were not perfect, but they also weren’t as bad as they could have been. My actual age is a couple of years younger than my heart age. My cholesterol level was my main issue, but I’m allergic to statins, so I’ll try to lower my cholesterol through diet.

I informed all of my kids and grandkids about the difference in the two ages. Their reactions varied from, “But you’re so active, how could that be?” to “What will you do about it?” to “Have you told your primary care physician?” All of these were good questions.

I promised my grandkids I would follow up on all of their suggestions, even before I’m able to take this crazy boot off. I’ve created a new Rocky workout routine and hope it goes well. All my grandkids told me they loved me, but they couldn’t figure out who Rocky was.

Take an Online Screening

What’s your heart age? Take the free HeartAware Risk Assessment now to find out!