My father died at the age of 57 years 362 days. He was buried on his 58 birthday. As I have aged this has been on my mind and the thought of outliving his life span has become something of a morbid goal of mine. Now my 58th birthday is 6 days away. Three more days and I will equal Dad's life span. Four days and I will have bested it.
Dad was a smoker who suffered his first heart attack at the age of 50. He quit smoking for a couple of years, started eating healthier, lost some weight, got more regular exercise ... and then relapsed into smoking about 3 years later.
I have my own health concerns. I am a type two diabetic. My ankles and knees are shot and will need replaced at some point in time if diabetes doesn't claim them first. I am overweight. I've lost nearly 60 (Edit: now 91 lbs) pounds from my one time high, but could still stand to lose a few more.
Today, I became quite angry over being constantly interrupted while attempting to prepare to coach a soccer camp next week. So angry, that I lost the ability to concentrate and focus on the task at hand. So angry that I felt anxiety and perhaps the beginnings of a panic attack. So upset that I became aware of my heart racing in my chest.
No, not a heart attack. At least I don't think so. (Edit: on July 8th I did suffer a heart attack) No pain of any sort in any part of the body. No other common symptoms of an impending heart attack or sudden cardiac arrest. I was just stressed, wound pretty tight and need space away from the trigger and time to unwind.
Still, I'm six days away from my 58th birthday ...
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