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Don I applaud your reversal of heart disease through diet and exercize! I am attempting to do the same, in order to avoid by-pass surgery due to 100% blockage of my right coronary artery. They stented my left coronary, which was 40% blocked. The stent opened the artery up and I could get back to walking again. But I'm trying to clear out the right coronary through diet and exercise, and I am encouraged to believe that's possible by your story. I have been migrating to a mostly raw food diet, but "it ain't easy!" I'm an inveterate "meat and potatoes" man, and I call my heart disease the "Haagen-Daz" disease because I have been addicted to rich ice cream for many years. I have slowly moved to eating mostly fruit and vegetables, but then dinner time comes and I find myself presented with chicken breast or salmon on the plate. It isn't easy to find the strength to walk away from that plate! I want to thank you for your story and for reminding me of the URGENCY of changing habits to more healthy ones, and clearing out my arterial system quickly. I don't really want to have another heart attack to remind me what I need to do. Thanks for being there.
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I congratulate you Don, THREE LOUD CHEERS !
I am here to testify of the truth of how drastic heart surgery caN be. I went into heart surgery bearing in mind that my father went through a triple by-pass with flying colors- I did not fair so well. I had open heart surgery- age 42 (not because of clogged arteries, but because of my connective tissue disorder- weakening the valves) -
The surgeon boasted of his gReat knowledge on working with people with connective tissue disorders- he claimed he didn't even need the informational CD I had for him for surgeons dealing with Ehlers Danlos patients. Ah~ the story of my life- I was TOO TRUSTING!!
My story is a warning as cracking open my chest that day, just about ruined my life!
What he didn't do- was make sure that the anesthesiologist was also an expert in connective tissue disorders! As my Neurosurgeon later explained to me that the normal position for open heart surgery during intubation - is an over-extended postition for the neck- which for me, was practically fatal- and exaserbated several other conditions I had related to my Ehlers Danlos Syndrome- (connective tissue and collagen disorder)
Two months after my heart surgery I lost the use of the left side of my body, toppled over and couldn't move or speak for an hour. That proceeded then to massive head pain that brought on seizures- I lost my mobility almost completely- I couldn't for the last 3 years- walk down my driveway- and could only in this last year- (3 years later and after getting off many meds as well) put away clean dishes or fold any laundry!
What they don't tell you about heart surgery is that you will be quickly dismissed from the surgeon- after 2 months, no matter WHAT your complaints or problems are- They are not going to go searching to help you figure out what went wrong. I only learned of what had happened after a year of daily, mulitiple seizures and long periods of time without speach and movement- when I traveled across the COUNTRY - where I found specialists who properly diagnosed me and explained why they believed everything went wrong for me after my heart surgery.
Prior to my surgery my surgeon told me that I would be super woman again about 3 months following surgery. (I was extremely athletic and had a hard time getting doctors to believe that my heart was going bad- until I had an echocardiogram based oNly upon my connective tissue diagnosis- no other tests showed anything. TheN suddenly they were all saying I needed heart surgery!)
My surgeon, thought he was Michalangelo- and I had too many other health issues- totally blew me off-and I was shocked to be dismissed with so little concern while he told me at the same time he had never had a patient need so much pain medicine for so long.I just looked at him and said, "If you fixed my heart why does it HURT so bad?" - then of course, things went further south.
I have yet to communicate with him since. Not that I think he would be very receptive- but it would ease my heart to know that he would not be responsible for such tradgic loss to one of his trusting patients again. I share so that others will also heed your sound advice and follow in likewise lifestyle changing decisions before submitting to the knife!
I am on my way to whatever recovery is available to me, pursuing more holistic approaches- as many of the meds I was on were causing my seizures to be grand mals this last year- I also have to wear a neck brace a good deal of the time, as I cannot hold my head up for too long a time, without experiencing neurological problems from the downward displacment of the brainstem and compression of all those vital nerves and arteries. Some of us learn the hard way~ but hopefully ~ as more and more health information is circulated - it won't happen to you!
God's Best to you! and thanks for sharing!
From somewhere over the rainbow,
prism