I have a few new tee shirts up at the Zazzle web site. Folks seem to enjoy these and it sure is a conversation starter when you are first getting out and about after your surgery.
create & buy custom products at Zazzle
Sunday, 4 July 2010
Friday, 18 June 2010
The Picture of Health
I ran into a couple of friends the other day while standing in line at Tim Horton's buying a green tea and a chicken salad sandwich on whole wheat.
Hector and I chat every month or so but Dave I had not seen in about six months. The inevitable question of "So, how are you doing?" went around the table as we settled down for lunch.
I never know anymore if it is a real question because of my heart surgery or merely a polite question as a precursor to conversation. In this case I couldn't get away with a mumbled, "Not so bad. You?". They really wanted a report.
The truth is- not so bad. I've been fishing most evenings when the weather is fit, maintaining my fitness regimen and starting to feel more optimistic about the future.
When Dave said I was the picture of health it caught me totally by surprise. The picture of health?
There is a funny psychological effect when one has been so sick for so long, it shapes one's self-image. My self-image was frozen somewhere around the week or two following my heart surgery. Who I am today is a long way down the road from who I was then. It just hadn't really sunken in.
The picture of health? I'll take it.
Hector and I chat every month or so but Dave I had not seen in about six months. The inevitable question of "So, how are you doing?" went around the table as we settled down for lunch.
I never know anymore if it is a real question because of my heart surgery or merely a polite question as a precursor to conversation. In this case I couldn't get away with a mumbled, "Not so bad. You?". They really wanted a report.
The truth is- not so bad. I've been fishing most evenings when the weather is fit, maintaining my fitness regimen and starting to feel more optimistic about the future.
When Dave said I was the picture of health it caught me totally by surprise. The picture of health?
There is a funny psychological effect when one has been so sick for so long, it shapes one's self-image. My self-image was frozen somewhere around the week or two following my heart surgery. Who I am today is a long way down the road from who I was then. It just hadn't really sunken in.
The picture of health? I'll take it.
Saturday, 5 June 2010
High Cholesterol Blues
Wow, time flies. It has been a while since I updated this blog.
My last ramblings were about my upcoming doctor's visit. That went well. I seem to be healing properly. Still pumping out bad cholesterol like that well in the gulf is pumping out oil though. My dosage of statins was upped by another 10 milligrams. But the truth be told, we spent most of the time chatting about new technology and the impact on the social fabric as luxuries become necessities.
It is strangely comforting to visit your heart specialist and have it be more of a "just touching base" than a "here are the things I'm concerned about" if you know what I mean.
So a year and a half out from my bypass surgery I guess I am repaired. The rest is up to me. Diet, exercise and minimizing stress are the things to focus on going forward, And you know what? Those are all things that make us feel better anyway.
It is easy to slide into a couch potato mentality but being lazy and gobbling snacks only feels good for a little while. Eating well and being active feels good constantly.
My last ramblings were about my upcoming doctor's visit. That went well. I seem to be healing properly. Still pumping out bad cholesterol like that well in the gulf is pumping out oil though. My dosage of statins was upped by another 10 milligrams. But the truth be told, we spent most of the time chatting about new technology and the impact on the social fabric as luxuries become necessities.
It is strangely comforting to visit your heart specialist and have it be more of a "just touching base" than a "here are the things I'm concerned about" if you know what I mean.
So a year and a half out from my bypass surgery I guess I am repaired. The rest is up to me. Diet, exercise and minimizing stress are the things to focus on going forward, And you know what? Those are all things that make us feel better anyway.
It is easy to slide into a couch potato mentality but being lazy and gobbling snacks only feels good for a little while. Eating well and being active feels good constantly.
Friday, 7 May 2010
Doctor Visit One and a Half Year After Open Heart Surgery
The big medical check up is coming on May 10th. That will be just about a year and a half since my bypass surgery.
If I do an inventory of pluses and minuses I think there are lots more positives than negatives.
I've started to feel some renewed enthusiasm for hobbies I'd drifted away from. For example I've gone fishing almost every day after work these last couple weeks. The weather has been grand and I've enjoyed every minute of it. I built a fly rod and tied a dozen flies last month too.
On that front, things are rapidly returning to normal. Sure, I still have trouble sleeping and a bit of pain but that is manageable if slightly unpleasant.
On balance things are going pretty good one and a half years out from the heart surgery. Still I will be glad to get the visit to the heart specialist behind me.
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Heart Healthy Eating is Tough to Do
As everyone knows who is trying to change their lifestyle to be more heart healthy, eating well is a tremendous challenge.
My amazement has never abated at how irresponsible those who are in the business of selling food to the public are. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that businesses are in business to make money and will use every trick in the book to do so even if in the long run we, the consumer, are the ones who will suffer.
It is not just those of us who eat the trans-fats, excessive amounts of salt, and nutritionally poor food that suffer the consequences. Our whole society bears the burden on the health care system, poorly fed kids struggling to get through a school day and the serious , debilitating, consequences from a lack of activity and poor nutrition striking at an ever younger age.
Oh well, you have heard my rant before but here is a little bit of good news. Kraft Foods announced recently that it is reducing the amount of salt in its products by an average of 10% over the next two years.
When you think about it, that is a lot of salt that won't be eaten. Kraft has over a thousand products that will contain less salt.
On the Kraft Foods website it says this strategy will eliminate more than ten million pounds of salt from North America's groceries.
Why is this a good thing? Eating too much salt can cause high blood pressure and contribute to heart disease among other things.
Kraft is the first to admit that this is good for business but heck, more than 750 million teaspoons of salt will not be eaten in North America in 2012. Lets call it a win for health aware consumers.
My amazement has never abated at how irresponsible those who are in the business of selling food to the public are. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that businesses are in business to make money and will use every trick in the book to do so even if in the long run we, the consumer, are the ones who will suffer.
It is not just those of us who eat the trans-fats, excessive amounts of salt, and nutritionally poor food that suffer the consequences. Our whole society bears the burden on the health care system, poorly fed kids struggling to get through a school day and the serious , debilitating, consequences from a lack of activity and poor nutrition striking at an ever younger age.
Oh well, you have heard my rant before but here is a little bit of good news. Kraft Foods announced recently that it is reducing the amount of salt in its products by an average of 10% over the next two years.
When you think about it, that is a lot of salt that won't be eaten. Kraft has over a thousand products that will contain less salt.
On the Kraft Foods website it says this strategy will eliminate more than ten million pounds of salt from North America's groceries.
Why is this a good thing? Eating too much salt can cause high blood pressure and contribute to heart disease among other things.
Kraft is the first to admit that this is good for business but heck, more than 750 million teaspoons of salt will not be eaten in North America in 2012. Lets call it a win for health aware consumers.
Saturday, 27 March 2010
Are You Dumber After Open Heart Surgery ?
Are you dumber after heart surgery than before you went under the knife? Some patients who have undergone heart surgeries that require the heart to be stopped and life sustained by a cardio-pulmonary bypass machine report experiencing varying degrees of cognitive decline after surgery.
The condition has been nicknamed "pump head".
Now don't get me wrong, you don't go in as Albert Einstein and come out as Bo Bo the Chimp. It is more subtle and in a way, more insidious.
You see no one mentions this as a possible side effect. So when you start to notice changes in your mental capabilities it is quite disturbing. There is a simmering, low level of anxiety as it starts to dawn on you that there is something wrong with your brain. You have difficulty concentrating or following the thread of a conversation. You can't remember some one's name or an important date. It is a terrible, depressing feeling to realize that you are just not as smart as you used to be.
So there you sit in the first weeks following your surgery, battered in body and mind, a prime candidate for the crushing depression that often haunts the survivors of open heart surgery.
There is some good news. The impact on your mental capacity while real is relatively short term with noticeable improvements three months out, six out and so on.
Here is what is thought to happen. The combination of prolonged anesthesia and the heart lung machine induce a certain amount of mental confusion and memory loss that is temporary and will diminish over time.
The physical challenge to the body during the process of restoring the body to normal temperature from the cool state it is in while on the pump may deprive the brain of oxygen for a short time. So it is a double whammy. The body and brain are put through an amazing ordeal. It is one of the casual miracles we take for granted in modern society that we come back at all.
If you are presently recovering from open heart surgery and have these symptoms:
The condition has been nicknamed "pump head".
Now don't get me wrong, you don't go in as Albert Einstein and come out as Bo Bo the Chimp. It is more subtle and in a way, more insidious.
You see no one mentions this as a possible side effect. So when you start to notice changes in your mental capabilities it is quite disturbing. There is a simmering, low level of anxiety as it starts to dawn on you that there is something wrong with your brain. You have difficulty concentrating or following the thread of a conversation. You can't remember some one's name or an important date. It is a terrible, depressing feeling to realize that you are just not as smart as you used to be.
So there you sit in the first weeks following your surgery, battered in body and mind, a prime candidate for the crushing depression that often haunts the survivors of open heart surgery.
There is some good news. The impact on your mental capacity while real is relatively short term with noticeable improvements three months out, six out and so on.
Here is what is thought to happen. The combination of prolonged anesthesia and the heart lung machine induce a certain amount of mental confusion and memory loss that is temporary and will diminish over time.
The physical challenge to the body during the process of restoring the body to normal temperature from the cool state it is in while on the pump may deprive the brain of oxygen for a short time. So it is a double whammy. The body and brain are put through an amazing ordeal. It is one of the casual miracles we take for granted in modern society that we come back at all.
If you are presently recovering from open heart surgery and have these symptoms:
- difficulty concentrating
- noticeable changes in mental capabilities
- increased depression
Sunday, 14 March 2010
You are What You Eat After Heart Surgery
Well it is not easy as I'm sure you know. In the first place it is hard to get accurate information about what is good, what seems to be good but isn't, and what really is bad.
Here is a case in point. Recently a study was published by researchers at Harvard University that found it’s eating processed meat not regular old fashioned red meat that increases the risk for developing or worsening heart disease.
Like you, I have been told to minimize fatty red meat in my diet as well as deli meats, canned meats and more recognizably processed meats like bacon or pepperoni.
This research concludes that eating unprocessed meat does not "significantly" increase the chance of developing Heart Disease. It was eating processed meat, meat that has been cured or preserved by smoking, salting or whatever, that was increasing the risk of developing not only Heart Disease but Diabetes too.
So here is the quote from the report that caught my attention:
“To lower risk of heart attacks and diabetes, people should avoid eating too much processed meats — for example, hot dogs, bacon, sausage or processed deli meats,” said lead researcher Renata Micha, a research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health. “Based on our findings, eating up to one serving per week would be associated with relatively small risk.”
Presumably more than one serving a week would increase the risk significantly. I thought I was doing well by having a sandwich from the local deli at lunch instead of the restaurant's special of the day. I'm not so sure now.
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