I have heart disease and had a heart attack at 43 years of age. That was back in 1991. At that time I had 7 blockages in my heart. Part of my heart was severely damaged and my doctor at the time said the worst one was 70 percent occluded. He said if it got to 90 percent they would have to do open heart surgery. I changed my eating habits, and within a month I was back to work. We stopped eating hot dogs, bacon, pizza, the wrong kinds of oils and started replacing things with fish and chicken and salmon and lots of veggies and we all are still here.
Yesterday I saw my new Cardiologist and she gave me a diet to reduce the fat in my blood, or my triglycerides. She asked a million questions and really listened when I answered her. She really took an interest. Instead of telling me my foot was swollen, which I am aware of, she told me if I could lose even 10 lbs I could reduce one of my meds and some of the swelling would go down. Nobody bothered to tell me that until yesterday. I am a good cook, I like to eat, and dieting is something I have tried to do all my life. After my heart attack, I changed to Healthy Choice Dinners and my husband spent hours in the kitchen making special food for us. We all ate the same things pretty much as a family. The kid were young when it happened. Our twins were 13 and our daughter was 11. It scared them and they were on their good behavior when I went home. I was in ICU for 4 or 5 days and in DOU for 7 more. Then I was taken to Scripps Hospital in La Jolla for an angiogram. The next day I went home. I received excellent care and I am still here 20 years later.
I am on the long road to health, but I will make it. I am very motivated now, because this person took time to talk to me and took an interest in my care. I will exercise on the elliptical until I feel I can walk briskly on a treadmill for 10 minutes and complete an ultrasound which will show if the 7 blockages are gone as my previous doctor told me they were. They didn't show up on the last stress test...they couldn't tell if there were blockages or not, but he told me they were all gone. He was getting ready to retire and I guess just didn't want to be bothered. Whatever his reason for that bit of information I can't really say, but I really like my new doctor and feel I will make a new life for myself and my family.
It's never too late to start anew. Remember you are important enough to take good care of yourself. Life is good. You can start fresh and have a great life. You have to want it bad enough to work for it, but the rewards are over the top!
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