SPOKANE, Wash. – February is ‘American Heart Month‘ a time dedicated to trying to help protect the public from heart disease.
For Dr. Mohit Jain, a Cardiologist with MultiCare’s Pulse Heart Institute, heart health is a passion not just in February, but year-round. He says he looks forward to coming to work every single day knowing he’s built a career around helping people.
“It’s very rewarding” he said.
Dr. Jain decided he wanted to be a Cardiologist at a young age. His beloved grandfather suffered a massive heart attack when he was in his mid-50’s, eventually leading to his death a few years later. Dr. Jain, then a teenage boy, still remembers those experts who provided his grandfather with such thorough and compassionate care. Now, it’s his job to do the same.
Part of that work is educating his patients on how important it is to take their heart health seriously.
“Anytime is a good time to make it a priority” he said.
Shelly Peterson, who is not a patient of Dr. Jain’s, follows that advice. It was at a routine visit when her doctor noticed something was off.
“I was in (atrial flutter) for several months and didn’t know it,” she said. “They couldn’t get (my heart) to slow down.”
She says she had to schedule a cardioversion to hopefully shock her heart back into rhythm. The date was set. The 63-year-old grandmother of four spent the days prior to the procedure loving on her grandbabies.
“(The weekend before,) I held (my grandbaby) almost the entire time,” she said.
Before she knew it, she was back before her doctor.
“When I went in, they had to cancel the procedure because my heart was back in rhythm,” she said.
Of course, they had some questions and asked her what she had been doing differently.
“I said I held a baby the entire weekend,” she said. “(My doctor) said, babies are good for you.”
Something Dr. Jain agrees with.
“Spending time with grandchildren motivates you, keeps you active, the social component is immeasurable,” he said.
After all, it’s hard to top the love and motivation that babies can provide.
But you don’t need to be a grandparent to make changes to improve your overall health. Dr. Jain says if you take away just one thing from our story, he hopes it will be this.
“Get active and stop smoking,” he said.
Starting with just 10 minutes a day will truly help. He also stresses the importance of knowing your family history and discussing it with your doctor.
