“It takes a village” has never been more true for me since this past week. Our 22 yr old son developed a blood clot in his arm and had to be hospitalized this past week. Upon a diagnosis of thoracic outlet syndrome and two surgeries and great care from Mt Sinai, if it wasn’t for the incredible love from family and friends and medical teamwork, I don’t think any of us could have gotten through it. But, as our son says, he survived the trenches! He was discharged on Friday and we have a follow-up this week and fingers crossed that aside from medication for a short period of time and physical therapy for a few weeks, he can resume his “normal life” of a young man living and working in the city.
I share this with you, my family of “Monday Blog Readers”, to stress the importance of knowing your body. My son knew that something wasn’t quite right when he woke up and his arm was swollen and even more so when after a few days it didn’t get better with time. Learning to understand your own body, how it functions and how the environment in which you live influences your health, I believe is paramount to your wellbeing. Wellness and fitness involve being aware and making healthy choices about your diet, exercise and positive outlook. I believe that there are 4 key areas to caring for your body:
Getting enough rest and sleep
Eating well
Exercise
Emotional wellbeing
Caring for your body in all of these areas makes sense. After all, you only get one body in this life, and you want it to last as long as possible. Taking care of both your mind and body will pay off in many ways!
For more help in efforts to understand yourself more completely, I am here for you! So, contact me at Rachel@livehealthynyc.com