April 4th is the anniversary of my father’s death and February would have been my best friend’s birthday so this time of year I am always thinking about how unexpected their deaths were. This past week I found myself looking at a reminder for a birthday that would never come and I found myself crying at my desk. No matter how much time passes, their deaths pull at my heart strings like it was yesterday. It’s hard to talk about Loren’s crushingly sad death but I am determined to help other people not make the same mistakes that he made.
I remember the moment I found out as if it happened yesterday. It was a Sunday afternoon when I was sitting on the couch with my boyfriend and the phone rang. I remember watching my boyfriend listen to this voice on the other end of the phone just wide-eyed and shocked. It was bad news. No, it was horrible news. He hung up the phone and said three words that completely floored me… “Loren is dead.”
How could this happen?! He was starting his new health journey with us TOMORROW…
Loren never saw a “tomorrow.” My mind was spinning and all I could think of was that I had failed him. I had failed him by not telling him to focus on his health when I saw and KNEW his eating habits were not good for his health. I had failed him by not convincing him to take action sooner.
I had failed him by not convincing him that what he was putting into his body could kill him.
I had failed him by not explaining to him the lessons I had learned from MY father’s death.
Failing to prevent this hurts my soul in such a profound way. I still feel a hole in my heart and am crying as I write about Loren. I know that it wasn’t my actions that led to his death, but I just can’t help but feel a sense of guilt that I could have done so much more for him.
In honor of Loren and Heart Health Month, I want to leave you with some important lessons I have taken from the deaths of these two great men.
The “Canary in the Coal Mine”:
· Erectile dysfunction is a vascular issue and is a signal that there is something wrong, not just from a sexual perspective, but as an indicator that there is a much bigger issue occurring.
· By the time the doctor has a conversation with you regarding your heart attack risk it means there is NO. MORE. TIME. Take action now!
· Pay attention to oral health. There is a strong correlation between periodontal disease and heart health.
· We need to take a long, hard look at the Standard American Diet and common foods that are hurting our well-being and need to be eliminated. Common culprits include: Processed poor-quality meats like hot dogs, deli meats, refined sugars & refined grains, cheese, highly processed artificial packaged foods like cookies, chips and candy, and inflammatory and genetically modified restaurant food.
Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States with someone dying from a heart attack every 40 seconds. My mission is to continue to learn from the deaths of these two men and work with you, together, to take action and make at least ONE BIG DIFFERENCE in someone’s life. Learn more about what to do for your heart health on our latest blog.