CAdreaming

Good news indeed!!

Jerseygirl

Yes it is frightening. Glad to hear M is well enough to be discharged...there is no better place to recuperate than one's own home.

lansbury

So pleased to hear the good news. Bet he isn't talking about selling the Harley now.

Steerpike

If I may ask, how is his diet, and roughly what age is he? Also, did he ever have regular blood tests (cholesterol), or EKGs, and did he ever measure his blood pressure? I'm wondering if there were any signs/indications of the problems beforehand.

Two people I know well had similar situations in their 40s and 50s, and both were physically fit, making an effort to be healthy. But neither were particularly careful at the time with their diet (I think they assumed their exercise gave them a 'pass' on the diet side). Both have since paid major attention to their food, and neither have had any issues (one is now in his 70s and still going strong). The guy who is now in his 70s simply stopped eating red meat and substituted fish, and avoided fried foods in general.

In 2005, my g/f got seriously sick and embarked on a high fish/fruit/veg diet; at the same time, my doctor read me the riot act in regards to my cholesterol - either get it under control, or go on medications. So I joined my g/f in her efforts. At first, it was a struggle - I was addicted to fried foods, red meat, etc, and fruit was just not appealing. But now, in all honesty, I adore fruit, love fish, and enjoy vegetables. Not only do I no longer miss red meat or fried food, but when I do eat it, I feel like crap soon after (I feel like someone poured glue into my system). Once in a while I do indulge in a big pile of fried food (had bacon/sausage/egg/hash browns over Thanksgiving), and it does taste good in the mouth, but a few hours later I feel disgusting.

Anyway - good luck with the recovery!

Sally Redux

Having previously been a vegetarian for a long time, I now really notice how heavy/dull I feel after eating meat.

moneypenny20

But, but, but bacon...

scrubbedexpat097

M turned 60 in August and has always been pretty healthy. He had a complete cardio work up about 5 years ago, including a cardiolyte treadmill test that he passed with flying colours and has his cholesterol checked every year. His last test in January showed his total was 168, HDL 58 and LDL 126 which was great. He eats healthy and exercises at least 3 times a week. The only change was his BP was elevated at his yearly check up and after monitoring it for a few weeks our doctor put him on a BP med. He started taking that in February and immediately started to feel a lot more energetic, which seems ironic now knowing what was going on in his arteries

Of course hindsight is a wonderful thing. The niggly occasional shortness of breath when he was working in the yard was always put down to the Texas humidity, and the tiredness just to the fact he was getting older I guess it only comes to mind when you start thinking back.

Our Cardiologist did say today that he feels a lot of M's problems are possibly genetic as well. That is hard to prove as he knows nothing about his biological father or any ofthat side of his family. We do know his father died at age 44, but not how. We are going to try and find out though.

Hopefully his heart will stay healthy now and the fear and worries we have had this
last 2 weeks will fade

Sally Redux

Excluding bacon

Steerpike

Wow! that is scary then! My cholesterol is only down to 194 (from 236 in 2005) - worse than M's by a long shot, and my HDL is 56 and LDL is 128 - close to M's. When you say his BP was high, how high was that, and did the medication bring it down? My g/f has scary BP (and is on BP meds).

How did the 'tiredness' manifest itself? I'm mid-50s, and I've started to really quite enjoy a mid-afternoon nap these days ...

I too can't research my history as my dad left my mum at an early age. I do know there were some early deaths on the family, cancer mentioned, and they were a bit 'hush hush', which might suggest prostate (as if there's something to be ashamed of with prostate!).

You mentioned in an earlier post that 'lifestyle changes' were called for - if he's already exercising, and already eating well, what else is on the horizon? Does he have to stop visiting Mayor Ford in Toronto, or something?

Hang in there ...

BEVS

You can.

If you do a bit of a family tree and chart some of the male line , you can then look for the death certs.


This is dependent on your biological father being on your birth certificate or your Mother being prepared to tell you who he was.

Lifestyle changes can equally mean less stress you know. You can be healthy with a great diet and still have an underlying problem that means care.

scrubbedexpat097

No, they will be no visits to Toronto for him

His BP was on the 150/102 range, and after making sure he wasn't having excessive salt, caffeine or alcohol in his diet, which can elevate BP,he was put on a low dose pill (Norvasc 5mg) and then 2 months later it was increased to 10mg because it wasn't holding it at the levels the doc wanted. 10mg worked well.

I think taking a nap is ok, M had got to the point that whenever he was still for more than 5 minutes he would fall asleep This made him make himself get up and stay busy. It was also when (now he tells me) he would sometimes feel himself fighting for breath.

I would suggest if you have any concerns get a check up with a cardiologist. A baseline EKG, Echo and TMT is good to have. In my opinion it should be as normal to have a yearly heart check up as we get older as it is to have well woman/male prostate/ colonoscopy type check up. But I'm sure the insurance companies would disagree.

As for life changes, there was not too much that we were doing wrong really. He has decided to cut out caffeine and I guess I should as well but....
Alcohol is minimal, he likes a beer now and again and a glass of wine and our eating habits changed years ago when I had lots of abdominal problems so we eat quite healthy most of the time with the occasional treat of something on the "bad" list!

So research on his paternal family is on our list and could be interesting to find out more than just family illness, it would be interesting to know what other family M still has. He has never wanted to know this before but now is interested, it will also be good for our kids to know.

Redwing

Sugarmooma, knowing your blog shows how determined you have been before, I feel you will both overcome this latest hurdle with flying colors. Still sending good vibes and karma your way.

scrubbedexpat097

I think they mixed up the patients and sent Walter White home with me...

Breaking Bad anyone???

Chatter Static

Sally Redux

He's looking good there