On March 15th I had a heart attack. Naturally, I was in complete denial. I stayed at home trying to get aspirin to take the pain away. After a long (and stupid) wait, I realized home remedies and mother nature were not going to solve this problem. Off to the hospital. My daughter Victoria drove me to one near where she is staying. Little did we know they were going to ship me off to Portland, Maine.
The good thing about this was Maine Medical is a state of the art facility with friendly, clean, efficient practices. The food was good as well. The view was Fabulous. I had nothing but good things to say about it until I got the bill. YIKES! But I am not going to dwell on that, as I need less stress in my life.
Coming home was the next step of reality. I was weak and sore and defeated. They say rest, don't lift and all that. I have great family, neighbors and friends who came and fixed me meals, hauled wood, supplied me with books and movies. Fruit baskets were received and greedily eaten up. I was also left alone, no car available. I get calls from my good neighbors asking if I want to go to the store, post office, or if I need anything. It is a really good feeling. The fact is, it is hard to be in a large house and not do the usual stuff that needs to be done. I don't really have a way to get the clean up done. I have found I can wield the swivel sweeper for a few minutes at a time to get some of it up. I need a cleaning crew to make a dent.
My very good friend, who is acting like a mother toward me sent me an airline ticket to go to Florida for 10 days. I would be able to sit by the pool and relax. The GP doctor didn't have a problem with it, but the Cardio guy was not too thrilled with the idea. I went anyway. I read 5 books and had a wonderful time. Good company, great food and glorious weather. My sister Susie came to visit. I had not seen here for 5 years. We lounged in the pool and played a fun crossword game called bananas. I visited my Mirror Lake neighbors in Naples and had a really good time with them too. I returned to the cold north and huddled by the wood stove with three cats piled on me for additional warmth. Two days of snow this week cemented the reality check.
Victoria purchased a car! This is really good news, as we have a fleet of broken vehicles and have been subsisting with one car. Mark fried the rear end of the truck on his way north the night I went into the hospital. We were aware this might happen, but he was determined to be by my side, and you can't blame a guy for that, now can you?
I'm feeling stronger for longer every day. I get little twinges in my chest and before I can even wonder if they are pain they have gone away. One day last week, I had a slight uncomfortable spot. I have a hard time quantifying if it is pain, as it was not at all painful, just uncomfortable. So, I thought I would try one of those tiny nitro pills. I cannot really say for certainty that it worked. There are questions as to if there was any pain at all, much lest if the nitro took it away. So much for my little experiment!
Then there is the food. Start the day with the GERD medicine. I am now taking a little green pill instead of the Prilosec as there is a conflict with the heart medication. Then I have one cup of coffee and a piece of 9 grain toast. A treat might be some Teddy Organic Crunchy peanut butter with a topping of banana slices. A large bowl of oatmeal is then prepared and served with fruit, copious amounts of cinnamon (I heard it is good for high blood pressure) sprinkes of crushed almonds and sometimes some raisins or craisins. I have weened myself of milk and cheese and that sort of thing. I still eat an occasional yogurt, but would like to ace that out of the diet too. Salads have become tedious and I must make sure to have enough protein each day or I become lethargic and noshy. Chicken and fish are good things. I cook some chicken ahead of time and then can put it on the salad as needed. I was missing eggs, so I got some egg white type stuff. I find it makes good meals with things like spinach and mushrooms or broccoli. I love broccoli, asparagus and raw celery. Once in a while I treat myself to some tuna or salmon from the can, but I am counting all the sodium I am consuming. I was given a limit of 2000 g a day, but I usually try to keep it down to 1000. I'm reading all the labels too. Anything with fat or cholesterol is suspect. I have been eating Talapia filets. I was surprised to find cholesterol in them, but was reminded by my daughter, that animal based food all has it. Gee, where was I when that memo was sent out?
10 more days until the stress test. Then I am supposed to go to rehab. I don't know how that is going to happen, so I am looking into doing my own. I will be looking for one of those dandy heart monitor things, a pedometer and some good exercise shoes. Future is not looking good in the uncertainty department.
Questions keep popping up: will I ever be able to ski again? My father says he is giving it up as he is on blood thinning medicine and the doctors have advised he not do dangerous things so he won't bleed to death if he gets in an accident. I suppose I am in that category also. I just cannot see myself gong out on the ice in the winter to ice fish for entertainment instead of skiing. The picture of that just is WRONG!
Will I have enough strength to go sailing? I didn't have enough on a good day before the heart attack, who am I kidding?
How about kayaking? That sounds good. I hope I can still do it. It will save me from complete boredom.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment