Celebrated Birthday in Typical Fashion - 5 Months after Surgery!

This time of the year, the normal pattern of school, track practice, and big weekend track meets, is the normal way I celebrate birthday week.  This year was no exception, the only difference was my new birthday of December 13th - open heart surgery!  So, the 5 month anniversary was also this week! 

At the 5 month date, my recovery is headed in the right direction.  The healing process & strength are coming back.  I took a personal day Friday & spent the morning with the chainsaw cutting up tree limbs & carrying the limbs to my wood stack.  This activity went well, the only thing I noticed was some lack of strength & cardio conditioning - that should get better.

After my tree fun, I prepared for the Lancaster-Lebanon Track meet at our track.  That usually means making sure the pole vault area is reading to go.  More physical activity!  Then preparing for the competition & the "fun stress" of competition!  The girls pole vault was Fridat night and the young ladies were awesome - Kaya 2nd at 10'6, Dani 5th at 10', and Heather with a double PR at 9'!  The three young ladies had an outstanding day & the day ended on a great note!

Today, the boys go!  A 7 AM breakfast with the coaches, 10 AM boys pole vault, & a chance for the boys & girls team to win their fourth title in a row!

So, after 5 months, golfing, chain sawing, mowing grass, coaching, & back to school!

Made it to Birthday #58!

Time to celebrate!  And time to give thanks!

Tomorrow, May 12th, is birthday number 58!  And thanks to a lot of people, their expertise, their hard work, and their prayers, birthday #58 is here!

Thanks to the experts!  My family doctors at Mountville Family Practice!  Their quick referral, to Dr. Smith, Regional Hospital & the great staff, onto Lancaster General, Dr. Burlingame, the awesome nurses at LGH, the cardiac rehab staff, & then to the Heart Group doctors!  We are LUCKY to have the care we have in Lancaster County!

Friends & family!  From school, to neighbors, to relatives - sister Ginny(the nurse), brother Jon(who flew up from Florida), Cousin George(who is my medical role model), Cousin Oscar(his weekly phone calls), two awesome sons, and a wife that was incredible!!! 

A great church!  Prayers that were felt each day.  Communion at the hospital and at home!  Meals that were great(and healthy!).  And a pastor that not only is a great pastor, but a devoted friend!

And thank God!  My faith was tested, but His presence was Felt!

21 Weeks After Open Heart ByPass Surgery

Monday will be 21 weeks after surgery.  This weekend I cut my grass again(push mower, carried the pole vault pole bag, carried in the groceries from the car, and did another set of "real" push-ups!  The only "bump" is the PVC's, and I just deal with the extra heart beats.  When I exercise, I just slow down and get the heart rate below 95 & they seem to go away.

My next round of doctor appointments are in June after the last day of school - June 14th.  At that time I will have more blood work, wear a 24 hour halter, and meet with my cardiologist.  The meds that I am still taking are:
Heart Meds:
1 - 81 mg aspirin daily
1 - 40 mg tablet of lipitor daily
1 - 5 mg tablet of Amlodipine daily
1 - 75 mg tablet of Plavix daily
1 - 100 mg tablet of Metoprolol daily
Other Meds
1 - 20 mg tablet of Aciphex
1 - 10 mg tablet of Singulair

Cardiac Recovery and Saturday and Coaching

Recovering from cardiac rehab is a journey back to your previous world.  That world for me for the past 35 years has been education.  For the past 35 years starting with math teaching, then computer applications, then supporting technology in the classroom, my world has never been boring!  The same is true from that time of the day after school, from 3-6 PM!  Coaching has been there from the beginning, football, basketball, baseball & track & field.  High school athletes to 8 year old baseball players that do not know first base from third base!  Today, as many Saturdays, the entire day was spent at a track & field meet.  Waking at 6 AM, riding that lovely school bus, carrying the bag of poles for pole vaulting, setting up tents for athletes to escape the sun & rain, coaching the kids (in this case the girls first pace in the pole vault & the boys third place, and taking everything back at the end of the day!  At lot of time & energy into something that I have always loved - sports & competition!

One test of the new heart is the strength to make it through the day.  So far I passed.  Another is the stress of competition, I thrive on this!  Taking a young athlete to another level!(This year, once again, I have great kids!)  I am tired, but it is a nice kind of tired.  I try to pack good snacks & drinks, so I eat right and get plenty of rest(this is the more difficult part).

So far, I think I am maintaining a good balance.  The new element is preparing for retirement.  This means more meetings and big decisions(more stress).  So, what is the balance, school work, coaching, household chores, retirement plans, eating right, & relaxing when possible.  Three more weeks of coaching, 5 more weeks of school, then retirement and hopefully some down time!  Oh, and I forgot, more tests in June for the new heart & especially the PVC's!

Take a Quiz - Cholesterol - Fact or Fiction?

Here is a quiz for you at Web MD:

Cholesterol Fact or Fiction Quiz

 How did you do?  I missed one.  #3 - The age you should get your cholesterol checked.  They are saying in your twenties!  That is probably true for people today, but my generation, the doctors did not mention it!  The gradual build up of blockage, like probably happened to me, may have helped!  So, all you you people out there, get it checked!

 Another article, with a great slide of food can be found at:

Foods to Boost Male Health

Certain cuts of red meat, cherries, dark chocolate, fish, bananas, and other foods are discussed.  And be careful, the slides & the pictures of the food will make you hungry!

 

 

Checklist: Your Low-Cholesterol Diet

It has been some time since I have discussed diet.  As mentioned in an earlier bog, once you go from surgery to recovery to back to a normal routine, the old habits quickly come back, long hours, stress, missing exercise, and DIET!  I thought it would be a great time to revisit my current diet!  Let's see how I do on these nine tips?

8 Food Tips to Lower Cholesterol

 

Tip #1 - Stock your pantry and your refrigerator with the right foods for a low-cholesterol diet. Buy your favorite canned or dry beans, fresh fruits, whole grains, vegetables, and vegetable juice.

Comment:  My wife & I do a pretty good job here - we have good foods - my favorite fruits(apple & bananas), veggies(asparagus & green beans), & orange juice are always around.  The beans have not been a food of choice, so maybe we could add that?

Tip #2 - For a low-cholesterol diet, toss the butter, trans fat margarines, and polyunsaturated oil. Replace them with canola oil, olive oil, or plant sterol spreads.

 Comment:  I have always been good with butter, but I am now focusing more on my oils!

Tip #3 - Look for products specifically created for low-cholesterol diets, like Minute Maid HeartWise orange juice and Benecol, Promise, Smart Balance, and Take Control margarines. These foods have been fortified with plant stanols and sterols that help to block the absorption of cholesterol.

Comments:  We are buying more of these!  We have also found that good eating is more expensive!

Tip #4 - Start your day with oatmeal. Experts agree this is one of the top cholesterol-lowering superfoods.

Comment:  I eat oatmeal EVERY morning!  So much, I'm enetering the Kentucky Derby this year!

Tip #5 - Try a cholesterol-free egg substitute instead of whole eggs.

Comments:  I have never been a big egg fan & we have tried Egg Beaters.

Tip #6 - For a tasty low-cholesterol dish, switch out the cream sauce on your fettuccine for lightly stir-fried vegetables.

Comment:  This was one of my downfalls before surgery!  I have cut out all the awesome cream sauces!

Tip #7 - instead of using butter to keep your pan moist while cooking, use white wine vinegar. It doesn't change the flavor of foods and doesn't add fat -- a key to low-cholesterol cooking!

Comment: This one we are already doing.

Tip #8 - Don't lean on butter, sour cream, and other fatty additives for flavoring. Instead, reach for the spices -- either while cooking or at the table. Liven up your dishes with oregano, basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme, cilantro, coriander, or cumin.

Comment:  Once AGAIN, I HAVE REALLY CUT BACK ON THE BUTTER & SOUR CREAM!

It looks like I have been behaving!  I do miss, Tastycakes at the Turkey Hill, sticky buns, cookies, and good old fashioned creamy ice cream.  BUT, NEED TO STAY FOCUSED!  Oh, and I forgot french fries!

 

Open Heart Surgery - The Good, the Bad & the Ugly (Continued)

Been a few days since my last blog - been very busy.  School, coaching, yard work, etc,,,,,,  Keeping a blog is now much harder to do! 

Today is another big day toward retirement.  I have my "exit counseling" session with PSEA.  This is to be sure all the paper work is ready to go and the monthly retirement income is set & the investing of money is set up correctly! (This is probably part of the PVC issues!) 

So, today I took a personal day, chopped down some of our ugly tree in the front yard and get ready to go to my meeting!  I guess my cardiac rehab is progressing because I used a chain saw to chop off all the broken limbs from the winter snows!

Also, today I have my final cardiac rehab!