Searching for a Cardiologist

If you remember back to the beginning of my heart story, we were caught initially in a tug of war between Lancaster Regional Hospital & Lancaster General Hospital. Our family doctors, Mountville Family Practice, have been great to us for over 25 years! As the boys were growing up in Mountville, all the bumps & bruises were patched up and healed with good medicine and a caring spirit. My wife and I were always happy with our care and the normal things that a young couple needs to stay healthy was handled professionally and with kindness.

So, when I was sent to Dr. Smith, a cardiologist, I found the same thing was true. She was easy to talk to and quickly prepared me for a heart catheterization at Lancaster Regional Hospital. Again, all our experience at Lancaster Regional has been great. My gall bladder surgery & colonoscopy (another fun experience) were handled extremely well! But after the heart cath, we had a decision to make, where would we have the heart surgery? All our friends and family directed us to Lancaster General and specifically the Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Lancaster & Dr. Burlingame.

The main point of the entry today is for the past 25 years we have had excellent care as a family living in Lancaster County! And yesterday, Dr. Ellen Smith, called to see how I was doing and discussed the next step in my path to good health. She was a "class act" and I said that I would love to have her as my cardiologist, but for communication and logistical reasons it would be better for me as a patient to go with a cardiologist that is associated with Lancaster General Hospital. Again, I would "highly" recommend Dr. Smith to anyone! But as a patient, the overall experience and number of bypass procedures that Lancaster General has performed led me to their door. So far, I am happy with that decision! But again, I wish to complement all my caregivers, especially Dr. Smith, for all they do to keep us healthy!

A Tribute to Liz Wile!

I need to take a time out from my heart blog and pay tribute to a dear friend. This blog entry is dedicated to Liz Wile.

About 18 years ago I received a phone call. It was early spring of 1992 & I just finished picking the Mountville Cubs baseball traveling team for the season. Her name was Liz and her son Ryan Wile just made the team for the first time. I’m sure most of you have been through sons and daughters trying out for teams! And many of you have called the coach! This call was different!

Liz is what all baseball Moms should be like!

Of course Liz was excited and ready to help in any way possible this baseball season! You see, Liz was born and raised in Mountville. Then, she proceeded to talk all about Mountville, the families, the school, and the baseball history of Mountville! In fact, her husband Dale played for Mountville and was on a team that won a New Era Championship! (And he & Liz were there to enjoy a Mountville Indians New Era Title with their sons!)

Liz was a Mountville Mom!

This was the beginning of a friendship between two families that I hope everyone has a chance to experience and at the heart of this relationship was Liz! It started with baseball and continued as our boys developed a very special friendship. Ryan & my son Josh became very close friends! In fact, my son Josh called Liz Mom! How many boys are lucky enough to have TWO great Moms!

Liz was Josh’s second Mom!

On the baseball field, on my “Field of Dreams” the Mountville VFW baseball field, Liz was a very supportive Mom! The summer days when the boys had their first B-B guns! To birthday parties, family get-togethers, graduations, fishing at Barley’s Pond, building snow forts, and all the things that families experience! The years flew by and our families enjoyed many special moments.

Liz was a big part of special years of our families growing!

In fact, the Albright family was able to experience many “Wile” family unique activities. My favorite was the “Miss America Party”! What happens is you get together and watch the Miss America Pageant. The fun part is you pick one of the finalists name out of a hat and cheer on your contestant. That is where the craziness begins! And to make it even more fun is the family members and all the comments about our beautiful contestants! Liz has a BIG family and a FUN family! What a night! What fun! What a GREAT family.

And at the center of the party was Liz.

So Liz, you were a great friend, a dedicated wife, a loyal family member, and most of all an incredible MOM! Your love of your husband Dale and children Angie, Ryan, Brent & Cody was so obvious! And with that add Grandmother! You will be missed, but not forgotten in our hearts and minds.

Liz lost her battle with cancer yesterday. Liz helped make this small town of Mountville a better place and we are all lucky to have you as a Mom, a family, and a friend!

The entire Wile family - Dale, Angie(Matt & girls), Ryan, Brent, & Cody are in our thoughts & prayers!

Jim & Sue Albright

Surgery - December 13, 2010!!!!

Here we go! Surgery on the December 13th! My appointment with Dr. Burlingame went well & I'm on my way to the repair on my heart to get back into my "normal life" again! Dr. Burlingame took time to discuss the entire procedure:

1 - Where the bypasses will be located
2 - How the procedure will take place
3 - What the hospital stay will like for 4-7 days
4 - Recovery at home & cardiac rehab
5 - And what will take place 3-6 months out

He then let me ask my questions. Of course I had many! Many of the normal questions: What meds will I be taking? When does rehab begin? When can I golf? And the last one kind of surprised him - Will I be able to Pole Vault again? After a little nervous laugh & a expression on his face that I did not see before, he said, "Why would you do that!"

The countdown is on again. 11 days till surgery. If you are counting, that is 28 days from my initial visit to my family doctor. Here is the timelime:

August 31 - 8 AM physical - passed & no problems!
September 27, 2010 - cutting grass & noticed a "tightness" in the chest.
October - noticed the tightness in the chest was coming more frequently
November - was still trying to avoid the issue & wanted to get passed Nov 12th workshops
November 16 - scheduled meeting with family doctor
November 19 - Heart Catheterization scheduled
December 2 - Heart Consultation
December 13 - HEART SURGERY

Can drinking pomegranate juice help lower my cholesterol?

Found this interesting article and started to research pomegranate juice. Why pomegranate juice? This juice contains higher levels of antioxidants than most juices and antioxidants are thought to help the heart, especially reducing LDL - the BAD cholesterol. Check out these two websites for further details:

MayoClinic.com

Wisegeek.com

Tomorrow is the day. I will meet with Dr. Burlingame a 1:00 PM. So it has been 12 days since my Heart "Cath" and this will be the second opinion on my blockages.

Here is the website of the heart surgeons:

Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Lancaster

Cholesterol Charts

I have looked at these charts before, but now they take on new meaning! When I was first diagnosed with high cholesterol I got serious! My total level was 300! With diet & lipitor the total count was lowered to below 140. I was exercising & watching diet, but after my gall bladder surgery I slacked off(That is another story!)

Here is the chart I will post. Let me know what you think about the numbers.

Click on chart to enlarge

Big Week Ahead

This week we should have an idea of our next step to repair the blockages in my heart. Over the weekend I decided to take the weekend off from "My Heart Under Repair" blog & relax & focus on family & football. Problem was on Saturday Penn State lost & Sunday the Packers lost - so much for relaxing!

I have a few goals for the week:

1 - Continue to work on the positive approach to my heart condition
2 - Continue to make this blog a help to others suffering from heart issues
3 - Start research on other statins - since lipitor was the "med" that I have been using
4 - Start research on my "new diet plan"

Again, thank you to all that have called, sent emails & prayers. The support from family & friends is a critical part of the entire process. Please make comments on my blog!

Check out my new Heart Healthy Diet Video located with my other videos at the bottom of my blog!