Day 8: Guard your heart

“Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23

Inasmuch as it depends on us, survivors, we must guard our hearts. What does that look like?

1. Know your family’s health history (early MI, sudden cardiac death, heart failure, stroke, high blood pressure, cholesterol, and/or lipids)
2. Know your cancer treatment-related risks (Doxorubicin, Daunomycin, Epirubicin, Idarubicin, Mitoxantron, Valrubicin and/or chest radiation)
3. Know you heart health numbers
4. Know and comply with recommendations specific to your treatment-related risk factors

You can begin by taking the ‘MyLifeCheck” quiz developed by the American Heart Association: <<CLICK HERE>>.

Your Survivorship Care Plan will list the chemotherapy you received to cure your cancer. If any one of the anthracyclines is listed and/or you received radiation to your chest, then there are specific recommendations to help you guard your heart.

<<CLICK HERE>> (English)

<<CLICK HERE>> (Spanish)

The Children’s Oncology Group also provides information to help you and your PCP assess you risk for treatment-related cardiotoxicity and maximize your heart health:

<<CLICK HERE>>

Finally, here is the latest from Juan Carlos Plana, MD, Cardio-Oncology @ the Cleveland Clinic Foundation:

Cardiovascular Health of Patients With Cancer and Cancer Survivors: A Roadmap to the Next Level

Survivors, let get busy guarding our hearts, the wellspring of life.

Simply

Stephanie