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Wednesday, November 26, 2014

A Two Year Past Stent Placement Thanksgiving!

Today is the day before Thanksgiving and I have a lot to be thankful for.  Anyone who has been through hearing that "you're husband has one 99% blocked artery and the other 100% blocked" who has seen him not have a heart attack and not only survive but thrive two years later does have a lot to be thankful for!!!

DH had his 99% blocked artery stented two years ago on October 18th and his 100% blocked artery stented December 6th, six weeks after the first procedure.

Yesterday was his six month check-up with his cardiologist and together they had a bit of a celebration.  His cholesterol still mains safely below heart attack level at 125 total, 72 LDL, 30 HDL (the highest it has ever been), and 117 for triglycerides.

He continues to maintain his 75 pound weight loss without exercise, without counting carbs, without counting calories.

Three months after the second stent placement he was taken off of Lisonpril, which is a medication given to control the adrenaline response (and makes a person feel very unalive).  Three months later he was taken off of his metatoprolol (which controls blood pressure), and yesterday his statin drug was cut in half to 10 mg. and now he only has to take it three days per week.  We were told this would never happened.  Guess what?  It happened.  And we have now, also, been invited to our cardiologist special event in February to be his special guest at his Mind, Body, and Soul seminar.

Now, I'm going to talk about something very personal.  Women, you need to know that erectile dysfunction is a sign that shows some months or years before a heart problem is discovered.   This is not a sign of old age.  This is a sign of heart disease.

 I heard somewhere that the average is three years, but I wouldn't say that if this condition shows up all of the sudden that you should say, "I have three years to mess around with this."

This is a huge warning sign that your husband needs to change his lifestyle.  Educate yourself and encourage him to educate himself on how to prepare and eat low-fat plant based foods.  If he's not having any chest, arm pain, or fatigue, the new diet should help the problem. But that doesn't mean he's not having trouble with his heart.

If he's having chest pain, it's my personal opinion that he should have the cardiologist have a look see to see how bad the damage is.   It's not a time to listen to the radio commercials and have them take testosterone supplements, or nitric oxide pills.  It's a time to have him change immediately to a low-fat plant based diet. and a moderate exercise program.

I truly believe that we could have avoided both stents if we had been patient with the diet and let it do it's work, but since he was in a lot of pain, I'm glad we took a combined approach to use the medical approach for pain relief and diet to ensure future health and well-being.

You can go the medical route, totally, and take all of the medications offered and do okay, but I'm saying that having lived it, the lifestyle change approach not only prevents a heart attack but it has a high chance of ensuring well-being and taking away the looming fear of a future heart event.  Peace of mind is the result.

I strongly recommend, based on my experience, that if your husband has issues with ED and other heart disease symptoms, that you have him see a cardiologist and have a CT angiography ordered.  If there are signs of plaque, then he needs to go on the diet and stay on it, and this very well could avoid a heart event, and reverse the disease.  However, it is my opinion that everyone needs follow this diet.  I am following it myself even though I have heatlhy heart (tests confirmed).

Without violating too many sacred details, I will just say that this condition, which was so very frustrating and embarrassing has completely reversed and life for us is like it was when we were much younger.

 Do you know that that means in regards to his arterial health???????  It means that the plaque in his arteries, throughout his body is reversing.

Today I'm cooking a low-fat plant based Thanksgiving.

What's on the menu?

Bean Loaf (Jeff Novick Style)
Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes (no butter or marshmallows added)
Fruit Salad
Vanilla Ice Cream (made from bananas, maple syrup a touch of vanilla, and chia seeds)
Green Salad
Whole Wheat low fat bread
Peas

Happy Thanksgiving!  I'm looking forward to many more with DH which is an awesome thought when you think that Thanksgiving two years ago might have been our last together.  I am just amazed at the miracles we have seen and the blessings we have received.