That’s my mom Carol and her brand new great-granddaughter, Aryielle. My niece Christy gave birth to her this past Thursday, on Friday my mother celebrated her 73rd birthday, and on Saturday we took her to the ER because she has been having terrible shortness of breath. She has congestive heart failure and is now in the CCU while they try to figure out how they need to treat it. Not one of our better Mother’s Days, although the new baby has brought us all joy, especially my mom. My mother had no history of heart disease but the shortness of breath has been present for some time and she kept thinking maybe she was just getting old, or it was a lung problem like COPD, a condition a doctor once told her she may have. The point I’m trying to make is this, if you or someone you know has been experiencing shortness of breath and made lifestyle adjustments because of it, shortening an evening walk, letting your once perfect garden go to weeds, buying fewer groceries because it’s too hard to carry them in, sleeping on more pillows at night so you can breathe better….go to the doctor and demand to be screened for congestive heart failure. My mom went to the doctor last week but because she didn’t have all the warning signs her family doctor did not catch it. We finally took her to the ER hoping they would figure out what was going on, and thankfully they did. We hear a lot about heart attacks in the media but the onset of congestive heart failure is often insidious, yet just as dangerous to the health of your heart. My mom is having a heart cath today so they can see what might be causing her symptoms. I wouldn’t mind at all if you could send some prayers and positive energy our way.