Sixty-two wake up call

[fastphil]

Thanks guys! Sorry to hear of your plight John.
Before my CHF was diagnosed I had already been through two x-rays and two MRI's.
Waiting on the back burner is an abdominal tumor, torn hip muscle with hernia, and an unusually enlarged prostate in the front left quad. My PSA was as low as a man who does not have a prostate, so there was much concern by all.
This new issue came as we were about to discuss what to do first on those three issues.

So it is fix the heart first and move on to the rest.

On top of it all  that was an x-ray showing I have severe arthritis in my hips too. Hip replacement in a few years, I'm told.
When it rains it pours?

One day at a time!

Who said, "better to burn out than fade away"?


Good luck!

HSL

I forget his name but he was the safety pin head in Highlander

[Herr Straße Laufer]

[quote pid='406343' dateline='1449933319']
Best of wishes for a return to health in the coming years.  it can be done but you have to work at it.  What sort of exercise program do they have you on?  I have found walking and recumbent bicycling helped me a lot. What meds do they have you on?  I was put on COREG many years ago and with exercise and proper diet got my ejection fraction up to mid 60s from 22.  Been off my blood pressure meds for years.  Also gave up smoking and any alcohol over 20 years ago (which probably didn't hurt) so if you haven't .

[/quote]

Thanks fastphil,

My exercise is that I work forty hours a week in a "big box store". Lifting, walking, standing and continuously moving for each of the eight hours I am there.
Coreg and Lasix are my two new drugs. Lisinopril was doubled. I have a review next week with the cardiologist. Probably drop the Lasix. We shall see.
Quit smoking eighteen years ago. Four packs a day and I quit "cold turkey". That was the last time I let them "own me". All of the ten or twelve x-rays show my lungs as clear.
The day before I drove to the emergency room was the last day I had a drink. Drinking is no longer an option. If I can quit smoking with no gimmicks I can stop drinking.
Changed to a cardio friendly and (though I'm not diabetic) a diabetic diet. I lost twelve pounds in the last two weeks and am going to continue so that my meds are reduced or discontinued.

I am hoping to see improvement in the heart next week. Anything is better than it operating at 28%. I'll be disappointed if it is not. But, a part of the muscle was damaged and it will take time. I am also a realist.

Thanks for sharing.

HSL

[Big Dawg]

Ed,

Sorry to hear this! 
Good for you for quitting smoking.  Good luck on the weight loss & alcohol reduction/absence.  Please make all your doctor appointments.  I now get on the treadmill for 45 minutes & go 2 miles.  It is not as much as I would like but it is a starting point.  I threw myself into my career years ago & failed to take care of myself as I should have.

It is never too late to start.

(Well It can be if one waits too long.  )

Anyway hope 2016 is a good one for you.  I know you have a tough fight but you are no quitter.

Jack

[Herr Straße Laufer]

Thanks Jack!
If I was not a quitter I'd still be drinking and smoking? LOL!

Down by 15 pounds now and counting.
At work I put on a pedometer. Even at my reduced pace and restrictions I am walking 5 to 6 miles per day and burning up to 2500 calories per day. Working is good for me, for sure!
Eating right can't hurt.

I remember the old saying, "There is no right time to do the wrong thing or wrong time to do the right thing."

And, time is so valuable I do not want to waste it.    



HSL