How I Almost Cleaned Myself To Death And Learned That Life Is At The Heart Of The Matter

Photo by Bas Glaap on Unsplash

“When I was Younger, so much younger than today I never needed anybody’s help in any way…”
-The Beatles

As a single mother, I did it all; the job, the kids, the home, while trying to fit into a good mother self-image. This was during a hard time in my life; separated from my husband. With a poor support system and a desperate desire to do right by my children, self-reliance was all I knew. My daughter, who was away at college, was coming home for the weekend. I wanted to create a wonderful homecoming with hygge and joy, just like my own mom gave me when I arrived in Norway from New York.

Almost everything was ready. Between working, shopping, cooking, cleaning, and changing bed linens, I got it all done. Only the bathroom was left to clean, and that I saved for the next day, Friday morning before work. Work for me was nursing, in critical care at the hospital in my community on Long Island. I loved my job, which was a good thing, since I spend a lot of time there.

Next morning, I rose early. Moving at full speed, I was multitasking and eager to get the job done. I was stressed and physically exhausted. My awareness was far from the cleaning supplies. Mindlessly, I mixed cleaning products containing bleach and ammonia. The toxic fumes became unbearable, and chest discomfort and shortness of breath overwhelmed me. But I just opened the window and kept cleaning. This time my Norwegian tenacity almost killed me. In distress, I finished the job and then called 911. Soon I was in the Emergency room, placed on a cardiac monitor, an oxygen mask, and gasping for air.

“Achieve balance through the combined conscious states of the heart and the mind”.
~Steven Redhead

Photo by Joshua Chehov on Unsplash

February, the Heart Health awareness month is over, but our heart center needs ongoing awareness.

The physical organ, the heart muscle, along with our consciousness and emotional well-being have their residence in the heart center. We need both. A body with a working heart and an unconscious mind, or dead brain, is of service to no one. The heart is a hollow muscular organ that pumps blood throughout the body. The septum divides the heart into a right and left side. Each side has an atrium and a ventricle.

• The right atrium receives blood from the venous system (from the superior and inferior vena cava).
• The blood then passes from the right atrium to the right ventricle and gets pumped through the pulmonary artery and to the lungs.
• In the lungs, carbon dioxide is removed from the blood, and oxygenated blood now returns to the left heart via the pulmonary vein.
• Blood rich in oxygen, from the pulmonary veins, enters the left atrium and passes to the left ventricle.
• The left side ventricle then contracts and propels oxygenated blood into the systemic system and our cells.

There are two coronary arteries, the left and the right. The left coronary artery divides into two branches, the left anterior descending artery, and the circumflex artery. Each artery supplies blood to a different part of the heart. When a person suffers a heart attack the extent of the heart damage depends on where, and for how long the obstruction of the blood flow occurred. My father died of an acute heart attack at age 41. Others experience lesser degree of heart damage, and don’t even know it. Heart attack and myocardial infarction (MI) are words synonymously used.

The main objective of February Heart Awareness Month is to inform and inspire us, citizens of the world, to engage in a healthy lifestyle and protect the heart. When we bring awareness to the importance of healthy sleep, healthy eating, exercise, and stress reduction, we promote heart health. This reduces our chances of experiencing a heart attack. A healthy lifestyle and self-care also promote a general sense of physical and emotional well-being.

In the emergency room I was given medication to reduce swelling in the lungs, caused by the production and inhalation of toxic gases from mixing ammonia and bleach. The breathing improved and the chest discomfort subsided. I was then transferred to a telemetry unit where my heart could be monitored overnight. Turned out, my heart had strong, healthy contractions but the heart rate was low. My resting heart rate was pretty consistent, beating at a rate of 45–55 times per minute.

The normal heart rate is between 60–100 beats each minute. Less than 60 is considered slower than normal, bradycardia. Physically fit adults tend to experience lower heart rates. A rate at over 100 beats per minute is considered faster than normal, tachycardia. Causes can be many, including mechanical, conduction disturbances, or stress. But the average heart rate is between 60–80 beats per minute.

The heart rate, like our blood pressure and respiratory rate, change throughout the day. When we are excited, have a fever, exercise, sleep, are dehydrated, or stressed, the rate varies. That is a normal. It then settles at baseline, the individual’s norm.

The heart contracts more than 100.000 times a day. More often than not, the only time we become concerned about the welfare of the heart, is when something is out of order. The heart is precious, and it needs tender loving care. Engage in daily self-care. We do that by providing the body with enough fresh fruit, vegetables, and enough physical activity to deliver oxygen and nutrient rich blood to the cells. Your physical heart will thank you. But make no mistakes, stress is a major ingredient when it comes to heart disease.

Studies show that physical exertion and mental stress are also common precipitants of having a MI. Knowing the signs and symptoms of a heart attack can be lifesaving. Chest discomfort, shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, arm, shoulder, and jaw pain are some signs and symptoms. Everyone is different. Patients that I took care of, often said they experienced a profound chest pressure and a feeling of impending doom.

Bringing awareness to living in congruence with physical and emotional health add quality and quantity to life. Love, laugh, and play infuse lightness and joy into our daily routine.

“No one knows the day before
The sun sets”.
Norwegian proverb

My daughter’s homecoming was different than I had imagined. Her sitting in a visitor chair, I in a hospital bed, happy and grateful for my heart health. I was still here, on earth, as compared to my own homecomings when my father was in heaven, dead from a heart attack. Our days on earth are limited and the end is not marked on the calendar. Awareness about our heart health and emotional well-being is more than plain existence. It is about being conscious and aware in the present moment. Celebrating, loving, enjoying, and sharing our complete humanness with our family, our friends, and the world around us is more important than any glorified self-image.

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🇳🇴Annelie Holmene Pelaez believes that everyone has an attribute to share with others. Promoting cardiovascular health and helping adults over age 65 is her contribution. When we don’t let age define us, but rather empower us to grow, we discover health and happiness are byproducts of who we are.

Annelie is the author of the book, Say Yes to A Better Life, available at Amazon.

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