The gene pool cards

December 31, 2013 | Viewpoints
Melissa Miller |

“In your 50s, you find out what ‘cards’ you got in the gene pool,” I’ve heard it said. In the past year, this truism took on personal meaning. Unusual chest pains sent me to my doctor. The results of an EKG and a subsequent stress test—which I “failed”—revealed that my heart bears an unsurprising family resemblance to the hearts of both my father and my mother.

With the diagnosis, which is “serious but not necessarily life-threatening,” came a host of questions and feelings. Feelings like surprise and shock, confusion, sadness and fear. Questions like, “Do I have a decade of life remaining, as did my father, who died of heart disease at age 69?” If that’s the case, what stays the same in my life, and what needs to change? Or will my path be more like that of my mother’s, who, with intervention, has happily entered her 80s?

And how do we navigate our way through myriad complex and confusing medical options? What answers do we get from western medicine and what kinds of alternative medicines do we explore? I have enjoyed exceptionally good health; partly for that reason, I am reluctant to take medication.

My husband calls this reluctance “stubbornness.” He says my judgment is skewed by not having had enough practice being sick.

How do we decide what advice to follow, and what is unhelpful? And down the road, how do we decide what measures to take to prolong life, and when do we yield to the aging process that leads to death? Who do we talk to about these matters, with their physical, emotional and spiritual dimensions?

An article by Jonathan Rauch in The Atlantic (“How not to die,” April 24, 2013) describes the need for such questions to be addressed, particularly when individuals are frail and facing the end of life. He highlights the work of Dr. Angelo Volandes, who “disrupts” and slows down the typical doctor-patient hospital communication. Volandes’s goal is to ensure that patients or their family members have accurate, clearly explained information, and the space to ask questions, to help them with healthcare decisions. Volandes has also created a series of videos to facilitate such communication. Seems like this could be a good starting point.

In my case, what became clear was that I needed space to process this news about my heart, to research ways to care for it and to make lifestyle changes. It meant talking with a counsellor, who helped me slow down the questions and sort through possible answers. It meant examining the stresses in my life, assessing which of those were necessary, or life-giving, and which needed to be reworked. It meant resigning from a demanding volunteer position that I enjoyed. It meant deep conversations with family and friends, re-visiting my father’s death, and affirming loving bonds and the precious gift of life.

As a final thought, we can draw on our Christian faith and highlight the biblical and ethical principles that guide our health-related decisions. The God who created the world in beauty and diversity, who sent Jesus to bring salvation and abundant life, and who dreams of a world where shalom reigns, has given us the means to navigate the complexities of 21st-century medical care. I invite you to identify these faith principles, share them with your family and church, and even with me, if you wish. We can pool our wisdom.

Here’s a starting point from Paul, a paraphrase of I Corinthians 10:31: “So, whether you take medication or herbal remedies, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” May we be grounded in our trusting faith in God’s good providence.

Melissa Miller (familyties@mymts.net) lives in Winnipeg. She is wrapped in the family ties of daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend and pastor.

--Posted Dec. 24, 2013

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