Businessman Toivo Sukar’s life was turned upside down by health concerns. Now Sukari tells Iltalehti what kind of mental process he has gone through.
Toivo Sukari says that he received priceless support from his wife Nadja during the difficult weeks. Jussi Eskola
– Was this my life?
During the last few weeks, the idea has been bothering the businessman Toivo Sukaria68, in the dark hours of the night.
A series of events started in January from the usual ball expansion, which has thoroughly shaken the life of a long-time entrepreneur. After the operation in January, his health collapsed, after which he was rushed to the hospital several times.
Within six days, Sukar underwent another balloon dilation, when more narrowings were found in the heart. In recent weeks, he has recovered from everything – slowly.
– I don’t know if fear is the right word, but it has been in my mind, how I have lived my life. When a person is in such a situation, it goes to the spiritual side. Financial success, money and status, they all lose their meaning, says Sukari.
– This has been a difficult three weeks. Blood pressure has been fluctuating. I have scrolled through my own almost 70-year life like a film strip.
He says that he has seen vivid dreams in the weeks of recovery, in which he has gone through the rough and tough places of his life.
– In my dreams, I went to my childhood years and youth. Certain unpleasant events that I experienced in my teens and twenties came into my dreams. I clearly dealt with them through dreams.
Towards a life change
Toivo Sukari says he realized one thing: a new way of living must be found. One that doesn’t involve as much stress.
– I feel that I have survived this now. In my own way, I’m trying to get over the experience and take flight again like a baby bird.
– I’m living in overtime, that’s clear.
In the future, Sukari no longer plans to go into high-risk projects. He feels that he would not be able to stop working completely, but he has to reduce the mental burden of his own work projects.
– My body has now stopped me. I’ve been a healthy man, that’s why this has been so dramatic. I’ve been doing long runs and running, going to the gym and eating healthy. I’m not overweight. That’s why I was absolutely sure that nothing could happen to me.
Due to the series of events, he has lost even more weight. Five kilos have melted away from the body.
The coronary artery disease found after Christmas came as a complete surprise, even though the entrepreneur’s family has heart problems and high cholesterol.
– This is where you have to humble yourself. I have had LDL cholesterol, i.e. “bad” cholesterol between four and five, far too high for years. Without a healthy diet, it would certainly go haywire in the twenties, he thinks.
– You might think that genetics would bring the greatest risk of getting sick, but I think that stress is actually number one. I used to take crazy risks, I started from scratch to make one hundred million euro Ideaparks. Stress is the worst killer, that’s why I don’t make such hard efforts anymore, which take away my sleep. Masku and Ideapark go their own way anyway.
The most important change in the future will be that it is now time for the extreme person to start looking for the golden mean.
The wife’s support is warming
The support received in the middle of weeks of difficulty has been more expensive than gold.
Sukari is grateful that Nadia-wife has been standing by all the time, supporting and encouraging.
– Nadja is really important to my recovery. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be alone at home in this situation. That would be an absolutely impossible situation. Nadja has been understanding and we have faced this challenge side by side, Toivo Sukari praises his spouse.
The businessman says he wanted to protect his own children from their situation. In the storm of events, he didn’t always have time to inform about every turn, about which the posterity has given a note.
– I didn’t want to stress my children with this situation. In the acute phase it is difficult, however, I went to the hospital three times with the ambulance and once Nadja threw me there. I didn’t want to create panic by informing the children about every turn, because it doesn’t help anything, he says.
For a week, Toivo Sukar’s condition has already been significantly better. Heartburn is no longer a persistent problem, which makes drinking coffee take a break.
The businessman plans to spend February in Finland, and possibly after that he will leave for the heat of Spain.
– The blood pressure is no longer fluctuating. They are in place without medication. The nights are already better and the feeling is stable, he describes his condition.