Four friends and I meet every Wednesday morning for coffee. For the price of a cup we get one and a half to two hours of therapy. Well, thats what we liken it to. Issues, are discussed, dissected and most of the time the problem is solved. The girls are a great sounding board and we each hate missing a week because the chats are so therapeutic.

Pexels.com

This morning it was all about supporting one whose husband had a heart attack on the weekend. He is doing well having had a stent inserted and goes back for more in a couple of weeks time.
Previously one of the other husbands succumbed but didn’t need any intervention — he googled his symptoms and told his wife he was having a heart attack and needed to go to hospital! Then two and a half years ago my husband Ross had a heart attack and open heart surgery as a result. All three of them had had some symptoms prior to the actual heart attack.
The main discussion this morning centred on the general consensus that the men in our lives don’t really discuss their illnesses. If they are feeling off they don’t seem to say much. Then when disaster strikes and they actually have a heart attack and have to look more closely at their lives, we noted that all three of them had symptoms that shouldn’t have been ignored.
Usually if a woman thinks there is something wrong with her health she will make an appointment to see her doctor. From our observations when a man thinks there is something wrong with his health he tends to ignore it. Oh he’ll probably go to see a doctor for an ingrown toenail, but when it is serious like a potential heart attack then he will tough it out.
Women discuss matters whilst men keep that stiff upper lip and say nothing until it is almost too late.
Why is this? Is it the fault of women who raise boys to be strong or is it passed from father to son to be manly and tough. From what I’ve seen men will complain about trivial things but don’t seem to mention the really important issues.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics states — “In Australia, men die from heart disease at a rate around twice that of women, with this sex bias being consistent over time.” September 2017

So for you men reading this — if you notice something abnormal health-wise then either discuss it with someone or see your doctor before it is too late. And for the women maybe if you or your husband are of an age where heart attacks are more likely then perhaps you should discuss the concept before any potential problems arise.
I lost my eldest brother to a heart attack — he was only forty-four and he left a wife and two young children. Such a tragedy that could have been avoided.
So don’t be a statistic — it is far better to endure the inconvenience of treatment than leave your loved ones to plan a funeral.

Pexels.com