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I don't like to talk about illness. Yours, mine - You know, it's really not my cup of tea. Or anything I'd like to discuss over tea. Or anything I think anyone should discuss over tea, really. But you put on one hell of a show, get cool actors to perform readings and scenes, and you invite me... Well, coat my lessons with entertainment sugar, baby, and I'm there.
And that's how I found myself talking to Brenda Strong about heart disease, instead of my mother.
Metamucil invited me and two other bloggers, Sarah Flake from Hollywood Flakes and Kristin Fast from It's All Fun & Games, to attend a special performance in L.A. yesterday evening. It was put on by Events of the Heart, a non-profit organization dedicated to "telling the real truth about women and heart disease through the creative arts and the media." Fitness expert and personal trainer Valerie Waters was also there and recently started a blog called The Val Blog.
For us bloggers, the evening began with an intimate reception at the W Los Angeles, where we each got about ten minutes to talk to Brenda Strong, who sits on the board of Events of the Heart and who we would see perform later that night. I have to admit, Sarah asked her much cooler questions than me.
Living and breathing on the fringe of the entertainment industry, I was curious about the event itself. Certainly, a series of performances sounded much more appealing to *me* than attending one of a million fundraising galas and parties. Brenda explained that since one of the major goals of Events of the Heart is education, having actors perform entertaining and educational pieces was simply perfect.
Then we talked about heart disease. Something I never really think about despite the fact that I do the South Beach Diet - created by a cardiologist and I've read that book cover to cover - and my mother had a "heart event" last year. My Aunt also had heart events before she died a few years ago.
I didn't know that seemingly healthy, fit people can have rising cholesterol and be at risk for heart disease.
I didn't know that that's why fiber is so important. (I clearly just processed "fiber: good" when reading my South Beach Diet book.)
I'd heard that heart disease is "the #1 killer of women in America," but I didn't know that *I* needed to think about it and be proactive - even as I lament that I literally don't have time to exercise more than maybe once or twice a month, and I know that there's been heart disease in my family.
And I didn't know that much at all about my own mother's "heart event" - because I don't like to talk about illness.
So I called my mother today. And we talked about what happened to her, and I listened when she told me about her surgeries and treatments. I promised her that I'd tell you all about chewing aspirin, as recommended by the Mayo Clinic, because aspirin played an important part in maintaining her heart health throughout her experience:
For most people experiencing heart attack symptoms, doctors recommend chewing and swallowing one plain regular-strength aspirin or two to four baby aspirin. This recommendation still holds true if you are on daily aspirin therapy. Chewing the aspirin speeds up the absorption process and minimizes any delay in the beneficial effects of aspirin.
If you have certain bleeding disorders, you should not take an aspirin during a heart attack, and you're also not a candidate for daily aspirin therapy.
Don't take aspirin if you think you're having a stroke, because not all strokes are caused by blood clots; some are caused by ruptured blood vessels. Taking aspirin could make a bleeding stroke more severe.
Back to the event, Brenda and I talked about how women (and I think men, too) really learn to ignore what's going on with them and try to push through any pain, discomfort and fatigue; and about how I'm only now learning to listen to my body and be proactive about my health; and how she takes her Metamucil (plain, mixed in with her Emergen-C).
Then later, I enjoyed excellent performances by Eva Longoria, Brenda Strong, Kathleen Madigan, Markie Post, Stephen Collins, Alex Kapp Horner, Dana Delany, Annalynne McCord, Judy Gold, Cynthia Adler, Holland Taylor, and Jeffery Tambor, of "You've Gotta Have Heart" at the Geffen Playhouse.
The benefit
