Getting better all the time!!!

Still mending and adjusting to this new phase in my life. For example: instead of 3 pieces of left over pizza for breakfast I now have a bowl of Go Lean Crunch with a heaping portion of wheat germ over the top. Reading labels has become a new obsession. Did you know that wheat germ has no cholesterol and no sodium? Little discoveries like that make my day. Or did you know that a serving of sardines has 40% of a day's allowance for cholesterol? Needless to say the sardines didn't make it into my basket.

Tomorrow I go get oriented for Mercy's cardiac conditioning class. I guess you get 20 minutes of education and then they hook you up to monitors and exercise you for 40. My insurance should cover it for six weeks 3 times each week. I really do want to get back to working out, I had been slacking for a month or so before the "event" and been laying low since(2 1/2 weeks) Starting to lose muscle tone.

I am determined to use all this to my advantage, it's time to get real about my health!! Heart disease changes your look at life, even a small event like mine points to so much: my state of denial and the preciousness of life for example. I can imagine how life changing a major heart attack would be. In my case, it happened in such a way as to be a blessing, hopefully it will help me have many years of living, loving and grooving!

The music never stopped!

I feel better than James Brown

This picture was taken on my first gig back this Saturday, actually a house warming party for Bayou Boy Boss, Ron Bombardier. 6 days after my surgery and you can see the health coming back. Ah, the miracle of modern medicine. Again and again I see the value of allopathy, particularly in acute or dire problems. Quick intervention saved my heart from any damage from being deprived of blood. It took less then 5 minutes for the paramedics to arrive after Ryan made the call, and maybe 10 to get me to Sutter Faith Auburn ER. The docs and staff there and at Mercy were nothing but great! I will never forget you.

Went and saw my PCP yesterday. He said 2 things that really stuck with me: 1. "The game has changed" 2. "With lifestyle change there is no reason you can't live to a ripe old age"

He said that this might be a blessing in disguise, I could have gone on a long time without an "event" and the blockages could have gotten way worse before they reared their ugly heads. It was small enough that with quick intervention there was no damage but it was big enough to get my attention.

Already TJ and I have taken steps to improve what was a pretty poor diet. We have become label readers. We are determined to turn this into a positive thing.

What is amazing is how quickly I felt better. Almost immediately I could feel the difference. Looking back I can see that this had been in the works for a long time. Past few months I just felt OLD. I wondered why I really didn't want to do anything but sit on the couch and watch cop shows(between Law and Order, CSI, NCIS, Bones, Cold Case Files, Criminal Minds etc. you can pretty much fight crime around the clock). Was my well managed depression coming back? Did I have lung problems? Was I old or just lazy? I had been to the doc with breathing problems 3 times but he couldn't find anything. Heart disease is often silent, we only find it too late.

What I have learned from all this is: listen to your body and be proactive with your doctors. And taking care is more than just a saying.

In closing let me say this: Have Mercy(pun intended) and It's a brand new day, let the man come in and do the popcorn!!!