{"id":2728,"date":"2013-12-10T10:44:15","date_gmt":"2013-12-10T18:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redshoezone.ca\/?p=2728"},"modified":"2016-04-16T14:44:21","modified_gmt":"2016-04-16T21:44:21","slug":"you-need-heart-valve-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/","title":{"rendered":"you need heart valve surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"

“You need heart valve surgery.” “What??!!”<\/em><\/p>\n

Life is full of surprises and \u00a0this was one I\u2019d prefer to skip. I hadn\u2019t expected to hear my lifelong prolapsed mitral valve now required surgery. Ok\u2026 I knew<\/i> it was inevitable but after years (and years) of A-ok\u2019s I got seduced into thinking my dedication to health and fitness would somehow spare me.<\/p>\n

My Cardiologist delivered the news factually (supported by data), in a direct no nonsense way, \u201cwe have to fix this now\u201d<\/em> ending with\u2026..\u201cDo you have<\/em> any questions?\u201d<\/em> \u201cAhhh\u2026\u2026nooo?\u201d<\/em> I say. Of course the questions had begun and started to breed and multiply as soon as he left the room.<\/p>\n

By the next day\u2026well\u2026 where do I start? It took almost a week to digest the news. Then the big one\u2026how will I approach this? I saw 2 options\u2026 1) fearfully<\/b> (which is how I was feeling) \u00a0react to things only as they happen, think (maybe) this will go away, adopt an attitude of what I don\u2019t know can\u2019t hurt me or 2)<\/b> fearlessly <\/b>say thank you and see it as an opportunity to grow, strengthen and evolve.<\/p>\n

I consider the options, decide 2) fearlessly <\/b>and take a deep breath.<\/p>\n

When I look at myself I see a classic Type A — energetic, get-stuff-done kinda\u2019 gal. It would be gold star material if it wasn\u2019t well documented that Type A behavior does not encourage longevity. On top of that my mind is always active, leaving little space for true peace and in stressful situations I’m a breath holder which triggers the body’s fight or flight response and produces anxiety. These are distinct challenges for option 2!<\/p>\n

I can see the first piece of business is to still and quiet the mind which is currently multi-tasking. Second thing is to learn to breathe. It strikes me that\u00a0this may also be an opportunity to ASK-for-help since\u00a0I’m in totally foreign territory.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve tried meditation before but my list making, thought generating mind has always run the show. This time it\u2019s different I want and need the peace and calm it can bring to mind and body. I ASK-for-help from meditating friends (easier than I thought) and was immediately cocooned in love and showered with amazing resources to create a daily meditation program. I\u00a0was blessed.<\/p>\n

Today, I\u2019m 2 months into my plan for Fearlessly Dealing with Curve Ball and happy to say\u2026I\u2019m getting it! I can settle into long, slow meditative breathing and feel a sense of centeredness and calm.\u00a0 I\u2019m encouraged.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the biggest surprise \u2026the fear I felt 60 days ago has been replaced by gratitude. \u00a0Grateful I\u2019ve been given an opportunity to cultivate more peace in my life. Grateful I am supported by the love of family and friends. Grateful for the joy that fills my heart.<\/p>\n

I will stay on this path.<\/p>\n

reACTION [to change in the response to stimulus]: calm the mind<\/b><\/h2>\n

If you are a breath holder like me take a look at this<\/a>. It has simple breathing strategies that could be a segue into a mediation practice.<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“You need heart valve surgery.” “What??!!” Life is full of surprises and \u00a0this was one I\u2019d prefer to skip. I hadn\u2019t expected to hear my lifelong prolapsed mitral valve now required surgery. Ok\u2026 I knew it was inevitable but after years (and years) of A-ok\u2019s I got seduced into thinking my dedication to health andRead More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[28,110,115,331,181],"class_list":{"0":"post-2728","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-and-wellness","8":"tag-ask-for-help","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-heart-health","11":"tag-heart-valve-surgery","12":"tag-meditation","13":"entry","14":"genesis-grid"},"yoast_head":"\nyou need heart valve surgery - Red Shoe Zone<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""You need heart valve surgery." "What??!!" Life is full of surprises but this was one I\u2019d rather skip. I hadn\u2019t expected to hear it was time.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"you need heart valve surgery - Red Shoe Zone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""You need heart valve surgery." "What??!!" Life is full of surprises but this was one I\u2019d rather skip. I hadn\u2019t expected to hear it was time.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Red Shoe Zone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-10T18:44:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-04-16T21:44:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/12\/photobreathe2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"264\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peaceful Media\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Peaceful Media\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/\",\"name\":\"you need heart valve surgery - Red Shoe Zone\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/12\/photobreathe2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-10T18:44:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-04-16T21:44:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/#\/schema\/person\/1fbf02469d98fee1941cb053fc09a3d1\"},\"description\":\"\\\"You need heart valve surgery.\\\" \\\"What??!!\\\" Life is full of surprises but this was one I\u2019d rather skip. I hadn\u2019t expected to hear it was time.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/12\/photobreathe2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/12\/photobreathe2.jpg\",\"width\":320,\"height\":264},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"you need heart valve surgery\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/\",\"name\":\"Red Shoe Zone\",\"description\":\"Women 50+ creating the life they want\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/#\/schema\/person\/1fbf02469d98fee1941cb053fc09a3d1\",\"name\":\"Peaceful Media\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d9a306e233771505cf5b535b09f377851411207cc47fbc2f23540a96a19046f9?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d9a306e233771505cf5b535b09f377851411207cc47fbc2f23540a96a19046f9?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Peaceful Media\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/peacefulmedia.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/author\/peaceful-media\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"you need heart valve surgery - Red Shoe Zone","description":"\"You need heart valve surgery.\" \"What??!!\" Life is full of surprises but this was one I\u2019d rather skip. I hadn\u2019t expected to hear it was time.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"you need heart valve surgery - Red Shoe Zone","og_description":"\"You need heart valve surgery.\" \"What??!!\" Life is full of surprises but this was one I\u2019d rather skip. I hadn\u2019t expected to hear it was time.","og_url":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/","og_site_name":"Red Shoe Zone","article_published_time":"2013-12-10T18:44:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-04-16T21:44:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":320,"height":264,"url":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/12\/photobreathe2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Peaceful Media","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Peaceful Media","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/","url":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/","name":"you need heart valve surgery - Red Shoe Zone","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/12\/photobreathe2.jpg","datePublished":"2013-12-10T18:44:15+00:00","dateModified":"2016-04-16T21:44:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/#\/schema\/person\/1fbf02469d98fee1941cb053fc09a3d1"},"description":"\"You need heart valve surgery.\" \"What??!!\" Life is full of surprises but this was one I\u2019d rather skip. I hadn\u2019t expected to hear it was time.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/12\/photobreathe2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/12\/photobreathe2.jpg","width":320,"height":264},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/you-need-heart-valve-surgery\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"you need heart valve surgery"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/","name":"Red Shoe Zone","description":"Women 50+ creating the life they want","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/#\/schema\/person\/1fbf02469d98fee1941cb053fc09a3d1","name":"Peaceful Media","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d9a306e233771505cf5b535b09f377851411207cc47fbc2f23540a96a19046f9?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d9a306e233771505cf5b535b09f377851411207cc47fbc2f23540a96a19046f9?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Peaceful Media"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/peacefulmedia.com"],"url":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/author\/peaceful-media\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2728"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5333,"href":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2728\/revisions\/5333"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ohmywordjournal.com\/redshoezone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}