The Return of 280...

[280plus]

Or

I'm Baaaaack...

Found out Wednesday I had 2 coronary arteries at about 90% restriction and am now the proud owner of 2 brand new shiny stents. Sorry, I can't show them to you or I would.  

Anyhoo, what a procedure. First off it's virtually painless, the worst part was laying immobile for four hours afterward. No, actually, the WORST part was the FOOD! They keep you awake and you can watch all the activity on the monitors. They enter a catheter in the groin area right into the femoral artery and wheedle it all the way up and into your heart while you can watch it on the screens. You can see all your coronary arteries when they squirt a little contrasting dye in there, I saw the restrictions (kinda scary when you see it) and I watched as they cleared up with the placement of the stents. Absolutely amazing technology given the fact that 10 years ago they would have cracked me open and done a double bypass and I would have been down for who knows how long. Now I can return to light duty Monday and totally back to normal activity in one week.

Take it from me, while I didn't live the PERFECT heart healthy life I sure did make a stab at it. I've known I've had high cholesterol for years and the lipitor/zocor type drugs always gave me bad reactions so I was making a concious effort to limit my bad food intake. All for naught. So you all do yourselves a favor if your a little older (I'm 49) and get stress tests every few years. I'm much better off that they found it BEFORE it became a heart attack. At this point there is no damage to my heart of which I am very grateful.

[charby]

Glad your back and thinks are looking up!  See you should have eaten the Bisquick box instead of the Bisquick all these years! (and tofu sausage too)

Charby

[grampster]

Happy to hear your back, feeling better and in fine fettle.

[280plus]

Yes, it looks like tofu and I will be getting better aquainted in the near future.

The saddest part is the BBQ restrictions.

[Guest]

Welcome back to you and your stents! I'm glad they found it in time!!

[garrettwc]

Wow, glad to hear everything has worked out. I'm only a couple of years behind you. Probably should get a checkup.

Yes, it looks like tofu and I will be getting better aquainted in the near future. tongue

The saddest part is the BBQ restrictions. sad

That sounds like a case of the cure being worse than the illness.

[280plus]

I'm only a couple of years behind you. Probably should get a checkup.

I was totally SHOCKED when they told me this. Like I said, I know people with WAY worse eating habits than I have plus this pudgy body has always received exercise in one form or another. Last summer I swam a total of ~ 135 MILES (9/10 mile almost every day for 5 months) The doctor DID say an artery can go from 20% to 90% restriction OVERNIGHT though. And I just hadn't been feeling all that well for the last few months so possibly it was more of a sudden thing rather than a slow progression. All I could think about was all the friends I've had over the years that just dropped dead right where they were. Faces in spaghetti bowls and everything. Most at about my age give or take a few years.

The only reason they caught it was because I've taken stress tests every few years since my back was injured in a car accident in '89. Ever since then I've had chest pains so I took the stress tests regularly to make sure heart related chest pain wasn't hiding behind injury related chest pain. Good thing I did!

Does this officially make me a cyborg?

[grampster]

Stems and seeds, learn to love 'em, 280.

[K Frame]

Damn, dude, lay off of the crullers!

Glad to hear that you're doing OK.

I just figured that you got stuck behind Harrold Tuttle's HVAC unit.

[280plus]

LOL...

Believe me, I wish I was...



It's funny though Mike. I swear I haven't eaten a donut in months, I frigging drink nothing but water, use the "Smart Balance" spread, low fat milk, oatmeal alone or in pancakes, effin Cheerios almost daily, it goes on and on. My only weakness is that damn Ben and Jerry's but I figured WTF why must I be perfect? I will tell you though, all that stuff DID lower my cholesterol level quite a bit but I guess it was all too little too late.

[grampster]

Did you ever consider you need to eat all the good stuff?  Grease, fat, fries, burgers, all the stuff that they say NO! to.  Maybe you have the anti-system.  I've often wondered about that.  You eat all the bark and grass, take pills and to no avail.  Maybe you go the other way?

[280plus]

Hmmmm, Maybe, I haven't had a McD burger and fries in a LOOOOOONG time. That COULD be the problem!

I didn't go in until 2 o'clock the second time and they wouldn't let me eat after midnight the night before. So as their wheeling me down that long cooridor the nurses and all are saying "Good Bye! Good Luck! You poor thing you must be so hungry!" So I says "Bye! And yes I am so when I get back I want a big STEAK wating for me. Half laughed, the other half recoiled in horror!

[280plus]

I had this friend once, retired cop. McD was on his beat so he ate there EVERY DAY! Naturally, after a while,  his various organs went south so he SUED McD, blaming them for his illness. He LOST because the judge said pretty much "We know McD food is no good for you, noone was forcing you to eat it and you should be smart enough not to eat it every day."

He had a BIG chip on his shoulder for McD let me tell you.

[crt360]

Glad to hear you got yourself fixed up.  Sorry about the diet restrictions.

I think it must be mostly genetic.  I've known people who were grain, fruit and vegetable eating, athletic health nuts who had heart attacks in their late 40s/early 50s.  Then there are types like my grandma who wouldn't think of eating low-fat, diet anything and lived on her own until she was in her mid 90s.  She was particularly fond of fried chicken w/ mashed potatoes and gravy.

Don't worry about having to eat that tofu stuff; contrary to what the soy industry tells us, it's not supposed to do much, if anything, for cholesterol.

[K Frame]

"It's funny though Mike. I swear I haven't eaten a donut in months..."

Let me tell you about a friend of mine, Chuck. We've been friends since college and have maintained close contact over the years.

His cholesterol is through the freaking roof, and the doctors are trying to get it down with a cocktail of statin drugs. The doctors are sure he's got significant plaque build up, but he won't go for the stress test. He's not had overt signs of heart disease, but it's very likely that it's there.

But, here's the funny thing. He is a freaking workout fiend. He runs at least 3 miles a day, is a high-level black belt in Tae Kwon D'oh, or however it's spelled, and eats the healthiest diet I've ever seen. His body fat can be measured in single digits.

It's genetics at work.

[280plus]

I absolutely agree on the genetics. I used to know a couple, he was thin as a rail and had high cholesterol she was a chub and hers was fine. Then there's my Granny, 97 now, grew up with things like frying in lard and lots of cheese and meat. Still drinks whole milk. Last time I got her milk she said, "Make sure you get the good stuff, I don't want any of that lowfat milk". Did I mention she's 97? She still lives at home too. I was hoping I'd gotten a few of HER genes. Apparently not.

[gaston_45]

Your body NEEDS cholesterol.  It is used to make testosterone and most other lipid based hormones.  It is also used to make the myelin sheath that surrounds every nerve fiber in your body, without the sheath you wouldn't be able to react half as fast as a snail.  The cholesterol that you eat can't even remotely cover these needs so guess what?  That's right, the majority of the cholesterol you have is MADE BY THE LIVER!  For some reason this process goes a bit out of control in some folks, that's the genetics thing at work.  

This is why your friend has the probelm he has Mike.  Changing diet is more of a feel good issue than a real attempt at a fix.  I suppose he could try to drink himself into liver cerosis to slow the liver down, but there's that cure worse than disease thing again....

Glad to hear everything went well 280!

[cosine]

Well, sounded like you had an exciting time 280. Glad to see you back, and to hear that you're alright.

Didja eat that steak yet?

[280plus]

Nope, they gave me the worst turkey sandwich I've ever eaten instead! (with lo-fat mayo to boot)

Ahhh, finally got a good night sleep so now I'm ready to kick ass and chew bubble gum AND I"M FRESH OUTTA BUBBLEGUM!!