The phone rang as I made my way downstairs for morning breakfast. My heart stopped as my mother asked with worried tone, “Where are they going to transport him?” My mom hung up the phone and I asked her what happened. She looked at me and said, “Your dad had a heart attack.”

“Is he going to be okay?” I asked. My mom and I left for the hospital. Plates of uneaten bacon and eggs were left behind in the chaos.

I could not believe that this happened. Two years ago a cardiologist informed my dad that he would have to change his eating habits or he would have a heart attack. My dad took that very seriously and held a family meeting. He told us that he would have to change his eating habits and that as a family we needed to work together to do the same.

He told us how easy it was to get in the habit of eating out. On the road he often stopped at Whataburger, Dairy Queen and other fast food restaurants. Or a colleague would stop by his office and ask to go to lunch. He did change his diet and lost about 50 pounds. However, he never followed up on the medicine that he should have taken. When he had his heart attack he jokingly said he was better off before he lost the weight.

The day of the heart attack my dad woke up early in to get ready for a speech at a 5th grade commencement. After the ceremony he went to his office where he soon felt a little dizzy. His chest started to hurt and he thought he had indigestion, so he retrieved some Tums and then proceeded to rest. He then began to feel a heavy pressure on his chest like someone was standing on him and he also felt his jaw locking. He told a lawyer next to his office that something was not right. The lawyer was familiar with the signs of a heart attack because his father recently had one. He told my dad that he was going to take him to the hospital. On the way to the hospital he took aspirin. When my dad arrived to the emergency room, a nurse set him down in a wheel chair. Then the medical team gave him precautionary medicine, popping two nitroglycerin tablets under his tongue and placed an oxygen mask on his face. Next, they administered morphine through an IV and he shortly fell asleep. When he woke up a doctor was checking in on him. The doctor explained that he had experienced a heart attack and there was damage to a small part of his heart. The doctor also explained that he would have to be on medicine for the rest of his life.

Heart disease is the number one killer in America. Whether you are a man or woman heart disease can happen to you. I implore you to learn more about heart disease and to take proactive measures. For instance, you should get a physical and check your cholesterol on a regular basis. Stay away from tobacco as it causes high blood pressure which can lead to heart disease. Make healthy food choices and exercise daily. Don’t just help yourself; inform your loved ones and work with them to help each other.