Hi there and welcome back to Aging Together! This week, we are continuing on with American Heart Month and the topic of cardiovascular health and aging. This week, I sat down with guest speaker, Sagar Pandya. Sagar shared his lived caregiver experience during an unexpected cardiac emergency and its aftermath on himself and his family.

The following conversation has been summarized for clarity. You can listen to the full conversation on the podcast!

Pooja (Host): Sagar, thank you so much for joining me in this discussion today.

Sagar (Caregiver): Thank you for having me!

Pooja: I sort of know what transpired, but I want to hear it from your perspective as a son with limited to no background in health nor our healthcare system. What happened?

Sagar: As South Asians, we are already fighting an uphill battle in terms of being as healthy as possible because of our diets. In July 2021, my father had experienced some shortness of breath and chest pain. We scheduled an appointment with his doctor in the suburbs. Being a non-healthcare person, we listen to our doctors blindly. Our initial thought was, “Let’s get to the doctor quickly and see what they say.” We were able to get an appointment the same day for basic workup. The doctor wanted to set up additional testing, but the next available appointment was almost three weeks out. To me, that was just insanely long. I had no understanding of why it takes three weeks to schedule additional testing. Thankfully, I had signed my parents up at a concierge health clinic about a year prior. I called them up, and they were able to schedule that additional testing the very next day at a large hospital downtown. Upon testing, the cardiologist said, “How did you walk in here?” My father had nearly a 100% blockage in the widow-maker. Within three days, my father got the additional testing, a diagnosis, got admitted, and underwent an open-heart surgery.

Pooja: How was the caregiving experience for you? Were you the primary caregiver, or did you have assistance?

Sagar: There’s not really a manual that helps folks become caregivers after a very stressful and emotionally taxing experience such as this. The caregiving process was entirely a learning process – learning how to interpret what the doctors were telling, learning how to manage our own emotions and thoughts, learning how to communicate with my dad post-surgery, all of that while we were still in the middle of a pandemic. It was an entire masterclass on what to do when a family member gets sick. I have to thank my wife who is a healthcare provider who was essentially the conduit in interpreting and explaining everything to us. I don’t know how families without that support person navigates situations like these. I also have to give props to my mother, who was his primary caregiver. Once he was released from the hospital, they stayed with us in the city ~5min away from the hospital in case of an emergency, since their home was ~45min away. I got to see another side of my mother throughout this experience.

Pooja: Are there inherent behaviors or cultural values and/or expectations you find impacted your approach to caregiving?

Sagar: In our South Asian culture, we are raised to take care of our parents and family. Growing up, I knew at some point they’d get sick, and there would be a time in my life when I would have to assume responsibility.

Pooja: Do you feel you had a different experience in pursuing and receiving immediate care and attention compared to someone else? How?

Sagar: The concierge health clinic really helped us get quick access to immediate care compared to the original route we were utilizing with my father’s primary care doctor in the suburbs. If it weren’t for them, I don’t know if we’d be having this conversation today.

Pooja: What was the aftermath of this cardiac emergency, and does it continue to affect you today?

Sagar: Once this experience finally was put into the past, we’re about 18 months out now, the aftermath for me personally was the need to completely focus on and prioritize my own health, above all else. I began focusing on food and exercise to contribute to a healthy lifestyle, and preventing my future kids from having to experience a similar situation.

Pooja: When you reflect, is there information or advice you wish you had known prior to this journey?

Sagar: First and foremost, we’re all human beings, and the more we can start to prepare for a healthy lifestyle, the more in control we’ll be and the less number of surprises that will pop up.

Thank you for tuning into this week’s Q&A with our second guest! Check out the full episode on Spotify or Amazon Music! Heart diseases continue to be the leading cause of death worldwide. Sharing lived experiences can help the community truly understand the impact of declining health on themselves and others.

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At Caregiver Consulting & Healthy Solutions, we are dedicated to helping you navigate aging together. This blog page is for everyone: whether you are an older adult looking to age in place, a caregiver seeking support and guidance, a young or middle-aged adult planning for the future, or simply someone interested in learning more about the aging process. I hope you’ll join me on this journey. Let’s navigate aging together.