Hi friends,

I'm lying on the couch, recovering from a recent cold, when suddenly, I feel a sharp pain in my chest, and breathing becomes difficult.

Thinking it’s probably just heartburn, I take a Tums and wait for relief. But after 30 minutes, it’s still hard to breathe, and the stabbing pain in my chest persists. Could I be having a heart attack? Surely not, I’m only 26 and in reasonably good shape.

Meagan and I rush to the Emergency Room, anxious to find out what’s going on. I know that a healthy lifestyle isn’t a foolproof shield against unexpected medical events, but I never thought something like this would happen to me.

I lay in the hospital bed awaiting the doctor to give me the results of my blood tests and EKG.

The EKG is normal, but my troponin levels—an indicator of heart damage—are elevated. While they aren’t high enough to suggest a heart attack, they’re concerning enough to suggest that something isn’t right.

The doctor then performs an ultrasound of my heart and finds a fluid buildup in the membrane around it—a condition called pericarditis. He tells me he’s seen four other young men with the same symptoms, likely caused by a viral infection.

Modern medicine has come far over the past millennia, but there are still many things that we don’t know. How did the virus cause inflammation and swelling around my heart?

Thankfully, I should be okay within the next few weeks to months with rest and medication.

This experience reminded me—and should remind all of us—that health is fragile. No matter how young or fit we are, our health can change in an instant.

And oftentimes, we don’t even realize how important our health is until it’s gone.

Don’t wait until something happens to start valuing your health. Make the choices today that your future self will thank you for.

Until next week,

Kevin

✍️ Quote I’m reflecting upon

“Not to live as if you had endless years ahead of you. Death overshadows you. While you’re alive and able—be good.”

— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations