Heart Failure

The heart beats. Always. From before birth to the last breath. It is the only organ that never takes a break — and yet you rarely ask yourself what it needs. Only when the pumping capacity diminishes, when the stairs suddenly feel steep, when the breath no longer suffices for what was self-evident yesterday, do you notice: something is wrong. Water accumulates in the legs. The nights become restless because you can't get enough air lying down. An exhaustion spreads that has nothing to do with what you did during the day — a weariness that goes deeper than lack of sleep.