What Do Bill Clinton and Jim Albright Have in Common?

What Do Bill Clinton and Jim Albright Have in Common?

Open Heart Surgery!  Check out the video from his doctors!

What were the top 5 reasons Jim is better than Bill!

1 - Bill had Quadruple Bypass, & Jim had Quintuple Bypass - 1 point for Jim
2 - Bill had a press conference after surgery - Jim had his wife write in his blog! - 1 point for Jim
3 - Bill was operated on in New York City & Jim in Lancaster, PA - 1 point for Jim
4 - Bill was president & Jim helped coach a state championship track team - 1 point for Jim
and the final reason.......

5 - Bill has Hillary & Jim has Sue - 
100 points for Jim

My Heart Stays with Mac

One of my big decisions in retirement was what would be my next computer?  Would I go PC or Mac?  Laptop or Desktop?  iPad or MacBook?

Yesterday I made that decision - STAY WITH MAC!  Even though PC's are cheaper, my Mac roots were heavy.  Back in the 80's, a lot of education (including my school), made the decision to go heavy into Mac!  Apple 2e's, Apple 2GS, Macintosh, Mac LC's, Mac laptops, iMacs, etc.  For over 20 years this amazing company has made some bold moves (and some stupid).  But overall, the Apple Company has been very creative & cutting edge!

So, yesterday - I stayed with Mac, 13" Macbook Pro!  (Thanks to my tech buddies - the retirement gift came in handy!)  For all you MAC freaks,the new operating system is 10.7 - LION!  Below is a table of the System 10 operation systems!

New Heart!  New Mac!  Retirement!

Heart Meds

Still taking the following heart meds:

Aspirin EC Tab                           81 mg                        1 per day                       AM

Lipitor(Atorvastatin)                  40 mg                        1 per day                        PM

Amlodipine                                  5 mg                        1 per day                        AM

Plavix(Clipidorel Bisulfate)       75 mg                        1 per day                        AM

Metoprolol(Lopressor, Toprol)   50 mg                        1 per day                        AM

Isosorbide (Imdur or Isotrate)     30 mg                        1 per day                        AM

Before surgery, I was on the Aspirin & Lipitor (only 10 mg).  I am still researching the other meds:
Amlodipine
Metoprolol
Isosorbide
Plavix

The PVC problems that I am still having is the only issue 8 months after surgery.  And the doctors are treating the PVC's with the meds - Amlodipine, Metoprolol, & Isosorbide.  As I have stated before, I could probably go the rest of my life like this, but when the heart rate reaches 100-110 I begin my PVC runs.  It feels like bad gasoline in your car, as I increase the heart rate I feel a sputter in the heart & my monitor goes crazy.  I back off & things are good.

From what I read the first treatment is usually - Metoprolol in doses from 12.5 - 200 mg daily.  I was on 50 to start & went to 100 and I am back at 50 mg.  The major side effect is feeling tired & crappy.  When I was on 100 mg I felt tired, now on 50 mg I feel a little better.

This website has a discussion on PVC's & Metoprolol.

The Amlodipine is another beta-blocker (lowers blood pressure) and I was put on that originally because my one by-pass had a spasm.  It was the by-pass that used the artery from my left arm.  They said this was common.  But, the question is for the doctor, must I stay on this, and what about the spasm?  The spasm was discovered when I had my second heart cath.

So, I an continuing to take the meds, but as I mentioned in earlier blogs, would love to try life without the beta-blockers - Metoprolol & Amlopdipine.  I need to wait till October to find out!

My next check-up is October, Dr. Worley had to move my appointment back because of a conflict in his schedule.

Other Heart Blogs

As I was checking out more Heart Blogs, I stumbled on this site:

Health WorldNet - Heart Blogs

This site has a listing of different types of Heart issues, for woman, kids, diet etc.

Heart Watch Blog

I liked this site because it covers many aspects of a healthy heart!  Check out what it said about the Walnut!

"Walnuts rank above peanuts, almonds, pecans, pistachios and other nuts," said Joe Vinson, Ph.D., who did the analysis. "A handful of walnuts contains almost twice as much antioxidants as an equivalent amount of any other usually consumed nut. But unfortunately, people don't eat a lot of them. This study suggests that consumers should eat more walnuts as part of a healthy diet".

Good stuff!  I guess I need to develop a taste for Walnuts!

10,000 Views THANK YOU!!!!!

After I found out that open heart surgery was in my future, my mind raced through many things!  My future, my family, my church, my job, my friends,.......  As part of my job, we have discussed blogging and education - why not blog my entire experience?  As it turns out, this is one of the BEST things that I did in the past 8-9 months!


AND - 10,000 VIEWS!!!!!!!

As I set up the blog, I noticed one thing I could do is set up a counter (THE COUNTER IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE) - how many people could I get to follow my blog?  How could I use this in a POSITIVE way to get through my operation.  As my little sis (THANKS GINNY) would say - "you must be a self advocate!"   Could I learn from my experience?  Could others learn from my experience?

10,000 views later - YES!

And thanks to all my followers!

MY WIFE
FAMILY
FRIENDS
CHURCH MEMBERS
CO-WORKERS FROM SCHOOL
AND EVEN SOME PEOPLE I HAVE NEVER MET!!

Thank you for ALL your thoughts & prayers!  I really could not have done this without you!!
100,000 here we come!!!

Another Visit to the Franklin Institute - The Heart!

Way back in November - December I suggested visiting the Franklin Institute and the section discussing the human heart.  As I mentioned in my early blog, as an elementary student we visited the Franklin Institute & one display I always remembered was the Human Heart!  The best part was walking through the giant heart and taking the path that the blood was taking through the heart!

Little did I know, that about 50 years later I would revisit the Human Heart Exhibit, online!  And the reason for the visit was to discover what makes the Human Heart tick!  Make sure you take a look!  An excellent web site at : The Franklin Institute - The Human Heart.

And for the first time, I watched one of the videos on open heart surgery!  I really did not want to see it 8 months ago!  I read about it, but watching it was not my idea of a "fun" video!  In fact I still turn my head when I watch certain TV shows!  Bones or NCIS still make me a little weak!!!  Maybe that is one reason I never went into medicine!

BUT< I did watch my first open heart video!  My "little sis" would be proud!