95 Piccadilly
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
By Shane Gilreath
When I was in college, I began experiencing bizarre and seemingly unexplained episodes. Initially, doctors believed them to be blood pressure issues that were causing sudden spikes followed by dramatic drops in my pressure. It ultimately caused me to fall through a glass window. That frightening moment led to a million different tests trying to determine an underlying cause, which, at the time, proved fruitless. Luckily, a short course of medication seemed to fix the problem, at least for a while. Years later, at 30, I woke up on December 23rd with intense chest pain. Truthfully, I thought I was having a heart attack. Yet I remember the date because I was the president of a community organization that had promised a Christmas meal to those less fortunate – and on that very day. So I got up, got dressed, and pushed through the pain, though spent the day wondering if this was the beginning of a tragic outcome I couldn’t escape.
Though I didn’t know it, that day would change everything. What happened next led doctors to diagnose me with a heart condition, one that, thankfully, is treatable. As we mark February as American Heart Month, I know I’m fortunate in that. Sadly, not everyone is.
In my own family, heart disease has taken a devastating toll. We lost my younger sister to heart-related issues just last year. She followed in the footsteps of my father, who has survived multiple heart attacks, and my maternal grandfather before him. Two uncles – one on each side of the family – have died from heart attacks, and every one of my great-aunts and uncles, save for one, suffered the same fate. Somehow, I’ve managed to be the lucky one, but luck shouldn’t be the deciding factor in matters of the heart. Not, at least, when health is concerned.
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in Tennessee and across the nation, accounting for a significant share of fatalities each year. In 2022, about 22 % of all deaths in the state were due to heart disease, and Tennessee consistently ranks among states with some of the highest heart disease mortality rates in the entire nation. That means thousands of Tennesseans are losing their lives to this disease annually – many prematurely and preventably. My family knows that toll.
It also means that countless more live with chronic conditions – some they don’t even know about – ongoing health risks, and the fear that the next chest pain could be the dreaded moment. Nearly one in five deaths across the United States is due to cardiovascular issues, and someone dies roughly every 30–34 seconds.
It’s devastating! I share my story – the messy, personal, sometimes painful parts – not for sympathy, or because I like to (I actually don’t), but for awareness. So many small issues, moments that feel minor, are easily overlooked. I could have – and did for a while – do the same in college. High blood pressure, shortness of breath, fleeting pains…they actually do matter. They need checked out.
So, if my journey teaches you anything, it’s that you should listen to your body, get checked, and don’t wait for Lady Luck to decide whether you live or die. During Heart Health Month and beyond, let’s take our hearts seriously. Even if we plan to give them away on St Valentine’s Day, we might as well keep them healthy in the wait.