By Ellen Brown

Several years ago, when I was writing an article about heart disease in women, each of the women I interviewed pleaded with me at the end of our conversation. “If you ever notice symptoms like these, please don’t wait like I did,” they begged. “Get it checked out.”

After promising to do as they said, I filed the information away in my mind and moved onto the next thing.

Then a few weeks ago, it happened. Seemingly out of nowhere, I started feeling a dull pain in my chest, and felt strangely fatigued and short of breath.

Suddenly, I started flashing back to my conversations with those women, remembering the symptoms they’d described, which included shortness of breath, nausea, pain between the shoulder blades, and fatigue. Each had fluffed off their symptoms, because they hadn’t wanted to “make a big fuss,” they told me. And one woman waited so long before heading to the emergency room that she almost hadn’t lived to tell about it.

At first, I explained away my symptoms, just as the other woman had done. I was tired because I was grieving the loss of my Mom. I felt discomfort in my chest because I was lifting weights that were a little too heavy. And my shortness of breath? Well, I HAD gained a few pounds lately. Surely that was the reason I was huffing and puffing up the stairs.

But then I remembered my promise: don’t wait like they did; get my symptoms checked out. Thankfully, at the time, I was participating in a bereavement group, in which our facilitator kept emphasizing the importance of staying healthy when grieving the loss of a loved one. Because the fact is grief can be tough on the body. So it’s important for us to keep up with health screenings and tune into what our bodies are trying to tell us.

So a few days later I was on the phone, explaining my symptoms to a triage nurse, and since there was no sense in sugar coating it, I mentioned that there’s a strong incidence of heart disease in my family.

It’s funny how the proverbial “sirens” go off when a 50 year-old woman with a family history of heart disease calls in. So that very next day I was at the Cleveland Clinic, talking to a young internist, whose eyebrows shot up like a cartoon character when I told him that my Dad had his first heart attack at the age of 57, and my Mom was in her 60s when she required quadruple bypass surgery.

The doctor ordered an EKG and a chest X-ray STAT. Thankfully, both turned out “beautifully,” as he put it, so beautifully, in fact, that I thought I was going to be able to weasel out of having an echocardiogram which seemed a bit over the top. But no, I still had to have the echo, he said, though he decided against putting me on the treadmill for a stress test after my EKG turned out so well.

In the meantime, my doctor ordered a big batch of blood tests, including one that measured cholesterol levels. The tests all turned out “great,” he told me a few days later.

But the results of the echo still remained a mystery.

A couple days later, I received the happy news that my echocardiogram was “normal” and my heart was in good shape, and boy was I ever relieved. I almost dropped the phone, while I was doing a little happy dance, as I spoke with one of the nurses in my doctor’s office.

The shortness of breath, it turned out, was due to being a bit overweight, so now, I just have to lose a little weight, which seems like nothing in the grand scheme of things. At least I didn’t have heart disease!

So thankfully, my story has a happy ending. But take it from me, and the three women I interviewed years ago. If you’re experiencing the symptoms I described, or some other symptoms that may indicate heart disease, please, have them checked out. And if you’re dealing with any kind of loss, it’s so important to keep up with your health screenings and seek medical attention, if you notice any troubling changes in your health.

I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Please leave a comment here on Stepping Stones.

Are you dealing with a challenging life transition? If so, I’d love to help out. Visit my website at http://www.ellen-brown.com to sign up for an introductory coaching session or a coaching package that’s right for you. Since coaching sessions are conducted by phone, I can work with clients anywhere in the world.

Ellen Brown is a certified professional coach based in Cleveland, OH.

By Ellen Brown

They say that grieving is a lonely process, and if you’re grieving the death of a loved one, you may feel all alone with your feelings. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are support groups in your community and online that you can join, and people there who will understand what you’re going through.

I recently found that to be true, when I participated in a bereavement group through the Hospice of the Western Reserve, after my Mom died. Over the years, I’ve been a part of a number of support groups and often encourage coaching clients to do the same. That’s because there is something comforting about being in the company of people who are traveling a similar path. There is an unspoken understanding, an invisible bond.

In any case, this wonderful bereavement group was a sanctuary away from the bustle of everyday life, a place where it was OK to be where we were at in our healing process, where no one judged us for our tears or our anger or our sense of relief. Groups like these are quite a gift in our crazy busy culture, which is all about hurrying up and getting “over” our grief.

It was a comfort to be embraced by this circle of new friends, where no one asked “aren’t you over that yet?” or told me “you should feel grateful that your mother is finally at peace.” It was a place where we could share our stories and our ways of coping or choose, instead, to rest in our silence. It was also a comfortable venue to learn about the process of grief, and test drive different tools to help us heal.

I  tell you all this, in case you, too, are grieving a loss. Because, whether you’re dealing with the death of a loved one, the loss of your job, or the decline of your health, you don’t have to go it alone.  If you need a little help, consider joining a bereavement group or a job club or a support group for dealing with a chronic disease such as cancer or diabetes.

And never forget that reaching out for help is strength, not a weakness!

So how about YOU? How have support groups helped you? I’d love to hear what you have to say. Please leave a comment here on Stepping Stones.

Are you dealing with a challenging life transition? If so, I’d love to help out. Visit my website at http://www.ellen-brown.com to sign up for an introductory coaching session or a coaching package that’s right for you. Since coaching sessions are conducted by phone, I can work with clients anywhere in the world.

Ellen Brown is a certified professional coach based in Cleveland, OH.

By Ellen Brown

Dave Grier

Note: The story below is one in a series of articles I’m posting about people who have inspired me by overcoming life’s obstacles. I hope you find the story inspirational. It was originally published in Cleveland Clinic’s Transplant Center newsletter for patients and their families, and is reprinted here with the permission of Cleveland Clinic.

Although Dave Grier has dreamed of becoming a pilot, since he was a boy, for many years, the dream seemed out of range, first for financial reasons, then because of medical issues. But today, at the age of 51, Mr. Grier is more committed than ever to living his dream and is well on his way to achieving it. The student pilot passed ground school with flying colors, and completed his first solo flight in October.

Mr. Grier, who is a two-time recipient of liver and liver/kidney transplants, hopes to one day launch a non-profit organization that flies transplant patients to Cleveland for their surgery and follow-up appointments. While there are some nonprofits that already provide such services, none of the pilots on their crews are transplant recipients, and Mr. Grier believes it would be inspiring for transplant candidates and recipients to know that they are being transported by someone who has traveled a similar journey.

Mr. Grier, who received both transplants at Cleveland Clinic, the first in 1997 and the second in 2007, explains his journey as a pilot this way: “After my first transplant, I pretty much knew that I couldn’t get my medical clearance passed because I was a transplant patient, and the FAA has some pretty high standards.”  But after recovering from his second transplant in 2007, he had some time to think, and his dream of becoming a pilot kept rising to the surface. Maybe he COULD actually become a pilot, he thought. Once he was strong enough to leave his hospital room, he went down the hall and hopped on the Internet. After doing a little online research, he found that there WERE a number of transplant recipients who had become pilots.

Mr. Grier remembers returning to his room with a big grin, with the knowledge that achieving his dream WAS possible. A year later, after fully recovering from the surgery, he applied for medical clearance for becoming a pilot, and on July 16, 2008, he had his clearance in hand. To say he was happy is a great understatement. “I was going to do a cartwheel in the post office when I got the clearance in the mail, but I didn’t want to explain it to the police,” he says with a laugh.

Recently, he accumulated enough in-flight hours so he could begin flying solo. Before he is allowed to have passengers accompany him on flights, he will have to pass a couple more tests, a fact that doesn’t seem to faze him.

Mr. Grier says his dream of helping transplant patients keeps him on track, so does his desire “to pay it forward” after being the fortunate recipient of the gift of life (from organ donors), not once, but twice.

For years, he has been giving back in a variety of ways. Today, he serves on the board of directors for TRIO, and for a time, he was the volunteer coordinator for the Minority Organ and Tissue Education program, where he had the opportunity to share his story and talk about the importance of organ and tissue donation to children and adults.

He’s also volunteered for the past few years in Cleveland Clinic’s Transplant Center, where he meets with patients who are awaiting or recovering from transplants. Mr. Grier says he loves to see patients’ eyes light up when they realize he’s there to talk to them about his experience, as a transplant recipient. “When I tell patients I’ve had two transplants, I notice that their attitude changes,” he says. “A lot of times they sit up in bed and pay attention. I think it’s really important for patients to talk to people who have undergone transplants and recovered. And I love being able to be that someone.”

To read more about Dave Grier’s high-flying adventures, visit his blog, Transplanted Pilot, at http://transplantedpilot.blogspot.com/

Copyright 2010 Cleveland Clinic

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Ellen Brown is a certified professional coach, based in Cleveland, OH, who works with clients all over the world by telephone and Skype.Dave Grier