Cardiac Patient Kept Alive With Two Hearts
Apparently, the reason was:the patient needed only one operation rather than two, which saves the patient time, inconvenience, and pain, and reduces medical costs.”
The goals of this blog are: 1 - Share Heart information with friends and family 2 - Learn as much about MY heart as possible 3 - Make this a positive learning experience for all!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Cardiac Patient Kept Alive With Two Hearts
This story caught my eye this morning! Heart transplants have been happening now for years. But, this patient now has two beating hearts! Click on the story below to read the entire article:
the patient needed only one operation rather than two, which saves the patient time, inconvenience, and pain, and reduces medical costs.”
the patient needed only one operation rather than two, which saves the patient time, inconvenience, and pain, and reduces medical costs.”
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Focus on Projects
Part of recovery is focus. Some days it pays to focus on other things besides recovering from open-heart surgery (NOT EASY). But, to recover from surgery, you must take time to forget the surgery!
Today I focused on:
Setting of my retirement schedule! As I have mentioned earlier, this is my last year in education! 35 years of education and I thought the last year would be like all the rest, but after my November Heart Cath, that was about to change! After submitting my retirement letter back in November I set up dates for meeting my financial advisor & the my Exit Interview. The meeting with my Financial Advisor will be April 27th & Exit Interview May 3rd. All the paper work is filled out & ready to go!
Next, I worked on my retirement plans! One of my passions that I have not been able to work on is my love of history. The first project will be the research of the history of my county of birth - LEBANON COUNTY! I have started this research several months ago & here are areas I have tackled so far:
Cornwall Furnace - the iron industry
Union Canal - connecting the Susquehanna & Schuylkill Rivers
Lebanon County Railroads - the birth & growth
Mount Gretna - Lebanon's Playground
Indiantown Gap - military reservation
Lebanon Bologna - cannot eat much any more!
The Blue Eyed Six - a famous murder trial
Today it was a focus on my retirement & retirement projects!
Today I focused on:
Setting of my retirement schedule! As I have mentioned earlier, this is my last year in education! 35 years of education and I thought the last year would be like all the rest, but after my November Heart Cath, that was about to change! After submitting my retirement letter back in November I set up dates for meeting my financial advisor & the my Exit Interview. The meeting with my Financial Advisor will be April 27th & Exit Interview May 3rd. All the paper work is filled out & ready to go!
Next, I worked on my retirement plans! One of my passions that I have not been able to work on is my love of history. The first project will be the research of the history of my county of birth - LEBANON COUNTY! I have started this research several months ago & here are areas I have tackled so far:
Cornwall Furnace - the iron industry
Union Canal - connecting the Susquehanna & Schuylkill Rivers
Lebanon County Railroads - the birth & growth
Mount Gretna - Lebanon's Playground
Indiantown Gap - military reservation
Lebanon Bologna - cannot eat much any more!
The Blue Eyed Six - a famous murder trial
Today it was a focus on my retirement & retirement projects!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Open Heart Surgery, Diet, & Eating Out!
One of the big changes in surviving open heart surgery is changing your diet. One of the hardest things to do is going out to eat! Today I went with my wife, as she took a bus of senior citizens(a group I am joining) out to a dinner theater production. It was a buffet, and in the old days I tried a little of everything. Today I passed on beef, lasagna, gravy for my potatoes, and of course cake & ice cream! Instead I had fish, mashed potatoes, BRUSSEL SPROUTS, green beens, water, decaf coffee, and NO dessert!
Many of my friends that are trying be be heart healthy talk about the change in diet and how hard it is to stay away from the "good old" foods! It does take discipline & focus to stay the course. And the feeling & emotions rise to the top when you see a 95 year old eating red meat & ice cream!!
Found these interesting diet facts:
Many of my friends that are trying be be heart healthy talk about the change in diet and how hard it is to stay away from the "good old" foods! It does take discipline & focus to stay the course. And the feeling & emotions rise to the top when you see a 95 year old eating red meat & ice cream!!
Found these interesting diet facts:
- The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
- The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
- The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
- The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
- The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
CONCLUSION
Eat and drink what you like.
Speaking English is apparently what kills you
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Tuesday & Snow!
Exercise:
Another reminder of my next birthday present - snow blower. Since snow shoveling is on the list of NEVER DO AGAIN, we need to purchase one for the Albright Estate! Sue shoveled & I cleaned off the cars. What a team! We had about 4 inches & it was a light snow, so the job was not as difficult as it could have been!
Hope to take a least 2 walks today of 10-15 minutes each.
Diet - this is what I had yesterday:
Breakfast - Oatmeal & glass of orange juice
Lunch - Turkey Sandwich on wheat & banana
Supper - Went to Willow Valley with Sue. Once a month they have a "Healthy Cooking" Demo. The chef prepared a meal for us & gave us the recipes for each part of the meal. Here is the meal, if you want the recipes let me know!
1 - Wild Rice with dried Cranberries and Walnuts
2 - Roasted Breast of Chicken with Port Wine Sauce
3 - Thyme Braised Brussels Sprouts (NOT BAD - BUT NOT MY FIRST CHOICE)
4 - Chocolate Decadence - (OH BABY - DID NOT EAT - CAFFEINE!!!)
The chef does a great job cooking with natural things a low fat & heart healthy choices.
Blood pressure last night was 109/70 and pulse was 72.
I have scheduled lunch Friday with one of my "zipper club" buddies Terry Shuman. We will get together & share our notes and solve all world problems. So if the world looks better over the weekend we did our job, if not it's someone else fault!
Another reminder of my next birthday present - snow blower. Since snow shoveling is on the list of NEVER DO AGAIN, we need to purchase one for the Albright Estate! Sue shoveled & I cleaned off the cars. What a team! We had about 4 inches & it was a light snow, so the job was not as difficult as it could have been!
Hope to take a least 2 walks today of 10-15 minutes each.
Diet - this is what I had yesterday:
Breakfast - Oatmeal & glass of orange juice
Lunch - Turkey Sandwich on wheat & banana
Supper - Went to Willow Valley with Sue. Once a month they have a "Healthy Cooking" Demo. The chef prepared a meal for us & gave us the recipes for each part of the meal. Here is the meal, if you want the recipes let me know!
1 - Wild Rice with dried Cranberries and Walnuts
2 - Roasted Breast of Chicken with Port Wine Sauce
3 - Thyme Braised Brussels Sprouts (NOT BAD - BUT NOT MY FIRST CHOICE)
4 - Chocolate Decadence - (OH BABY - DID NOT EAT - CAFFEINE!!!)
The chef does a great job cooking with natural things a low fat & heart healthy choices.
Blood pressure last night was 109/70 and pulse was 72.
I have scheduled lunch Friday with one of my "zipper club" buddies Terry Shuman. We will get together & share our notes and solve all world problems. So if the world looks better over the weekend we did our job, if not it's someone else fault!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Ten Weeks After Open Heart Surgery
New Meds: - after surgery
Metoprolol - taking one a day - 50 mg (This has doubled last week to tackle my PVC issue's)
Amlodipine Still taking one a day - 5 mg
Plavix Still taking one a day - 75 mg
Old Meds - before heart surgery
Singulair - 10 mg a day (same)
Aciphex - 20 mg a day (same)
Lipitor - 40 mg a day
Low Dosage Aspirin - 81 mg
Incisions:
The only incision I still feel is the "zipper" in the middle of my chest. It is still sore and numb about 1-2 inches on either side of the incision. My last rehab I was lifting light weights (8-12 pounds) with ease & doing walk pushups! And I have full range of motion with my arms and shoulders. I have been putting & swinging a golf club in my family room. The plan is to play golf in 63 days on Easter Monday!
Eating:
Still working on eating low cholesterol & low fat. So far so good. Started keepin a food diary & will add this to my blogs each day at the end of the day. Trying to drink more water during the day.
Exercise:
Since Cardiac Rehab has be stopped again, I will continue to walk two - three times a day and do work around the house. Hope to have a total of 45-60 minutes a day of walking. I will also continue to work on lifting light weights each day for upper & lower body. The only thing I will do is try to keep the heart rate below 100!
Mental Approach:
Still trying to stay positive & prayerful! The PVC's are pushing the mental approach each day. Two reasons - 1 - the unknown (why & how much can I push myself) & 2 - again the waiting game! Like I said my next stress test is next Monday, February 28th. At this point I may find out if the increase in Metoprolol is working. Also, will I be able to go safely back to work & coaching?
Metoprolol - taking one a day - 50 mg (This has doubled last week to tackle my PVC issue's)
Amlodipine Still taking one a day - 5 mg
Plavix Still taking one a day - 75 mg
Old Meds - before heart surgery
Singulair - 10 mg a day (same)
Aciphex - 20 mg a day (same)
Lipitor - 40 mg a day
Low Dosage Aspirin - 81 mg
Incisions:
The only incision I still feel is the "zipper" in the middle of my chest. It is still sore and numb about 1-2 inches on either side of the incision. My last rehab I was lifting light weights (8-12 pounds) with ease & doing walk pushups! And I have full range of motion with my arms and shoulders. I have been putting & swinging a golf club in my family room. The plan is to play golf in 63 days on Easter Monday!
Eating:
Still working on eating low cholesterol & low fat. So far so good. Started keepin a food diary & will add this to my blogs each day at the end of the day. Trying to drink more water during the day.
Exercise:
Since Cardiac Rehab has be stopped again, I will continue to walk two - three times a day and do work around the house. Hope to have a total of 45-60 minutes a day of walking. I will also continue to work on lifting light weights each day for upper & lower body. The only thing I will do is try to keep the heart rate below 100!
Mental Approach:
Still trying to stay positive & prayerful! The PVC's are pushing the mental approach each day. Two reasons - 1 - the unknown (why & how much can I push myself) & 2 - again the waiting game! Like I said my next stress test is next Monday, February 28th. At this point I may find out if the increase in Metoprolol is working. Also, will I be able to go safely back to work & coaching?
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Sunday & Heart Recovery
Started the day sleeping in to around 7:30. Sleeping is going much better & I even rolled over on my side during the night! PROGRESS. I'm still starting on my back, but have moved to both right & left side (depends on how loud Sue is snoring!) So sleep is basically back to normal, with the exception of sleeping on my belly!
Diet went well today:
Breakfast - Oatmeal & glass of orange juice
Church - this is a great Sunday Diet!
Lunch - had dinner out with Sue's Aunt & Uncle. Had a Caesar Salad with grilled chicken. But had to watch Uncle Paul eat a big juicy steak! (must have been 8 inches long & 1 inch thick!)
Supper - Sliced turkey sandwich on wheat. Some "Simply Naked" (no kidding - that's the name) Pita Chips - 1 serving has Saturated Fat 0.5 g & Trans Fat 0 g & Cholesterol 0 mg & sodium 270 mg.
Snack - Heart Healthy Popcorn
Medicine changes are going well, the metoprolol from 25 mg to 50 mg has not had a big impact on how I feel. My goal this week is to walk up to 45 minutes total. Maybe 3 times at 15 minutes for each walk and see if I feel any "flutters" in my heart.
Will post blood pressure and pulse rate later on this blog. I will try to post two readings each day this week - AM & PM readings.
Diet went well today:
Breakfast - Oatmeal & glass of orange juice
Church - this is a great Sunday Diet!
Lunch - had dinner out with Sue's Aunt & Uncle. Had a Caesar Salad with grilled chicken. But had to watch Uncle Paul eat a big juicy steak! (must have been 8 inches long & 1 inch thick!)
Supper - Sliced turkey sandwich on wheat. Some "Simply Naked" (no kidding - that's the name) Pita Chips - 1 serving has Saturated Fat 0.5 g & Trans Fat 0 g & Cholesterol 0 mg & sodium 270 mg.
Snack - Heart Healthy Popcorn
Medicine changes are going well, the metoprolol from 25 mg to 50 mg has not had a big impact on how I feel. My goal this week is to walk up to 45 minutes total. Maybe 3 times at 15 minutes for each walk and see if I feel any "flutters" in my heart.
Will post blood pressure and pulse rate later on this blog. I will try to post two readings each day this week - AM & PM readings.