A Side Journey Down a Stone Path

Well, of course, we wouldn't want things to go too smoothly on this journey. So, what does my body decide to do? It decides it would be a good time to take a side journey to address those kidney stone issues I've had in the past. Those ones that I sort of just let pass with a sigh of relief but made no real changes to keep them from cropping up again.

As a short background, I had been to the Emergency Department for kidney stone pain twice before. Quick side note: I'm not sure when it changed from "Emergency Room" to "Emergency Department", but that seems to be the case. Anyway, I went once while we were in Illinois, and once last year. Both times were extremely painful. Scans both times warned me that there were more stones in my kidneys than just the one that causing the immediate pain. Did I follow up with a doctor and try to address the root cause? Nope. To be fair, doctors both times noted that my stones were relatively small, there was no way to predict when (or even if) they would try to dislodge, and there was no way to dissolve them in place. So, I really had no reason to expect more doctors would provide a better option. Also, in both previous cases, within a day of leaving the ED, the pain subsided and I assumed that stone had passed with no further issues.

This time, I was not so lucky. After the initial trip to the ED confirmed this was the same song, just the next verse, the pain did not ever really subside. As you can see in the image above, kidney stones are not nice little smooth pebbles that just slide through and exit. They have sharp edges that dig into sensitive tissue. In my case, this "small" stone must have had a fish-hook shape edge someplace because it was not going to complete the journey on it's own. I saw a Urologist a couple days after the first ED visit and we scheduled a tentative surgery for a few days later - unless the stone happened to pass on its own. It did not.

I was back in the ED the day before surgery was scheduled looking to get better pain meds than I had been prescribed to use at home. They decided to just admit me to the hospital until surgery time. Surgery went well. Two stones were removed and sent off for testing to determine the most likely cause. Apparently there are different kinds of stones that form for different reasons. Who knew? Three days later I went back to the Urologist to have a stent removed. This was less "fun" than the surgery itself. I won't bother you with the details and just leave it your imagination. Whatever you're thinking, it was probably worse than that.

I went back to work a couple days later. I have another scan in a month to see what else lurks, and to get the test results on the extracted stones. Maybe my recent diet and exercise changes will be enough to prevent new stones from forming. Crossing my fingers and refocusing on the main journey.

Speaking of diet, exercise, and the main journey...

Here are a couple charts that show how the weight lose portion has been going. On the left you can see my weight has bounced up and down over the past 9-10 years. Probably not the most healthy pattern. On the right, you can see the last year. In particular, you can see the last six months start at that peak in the middle (where the heart disease diagnosis was made). Overall, I'm down 40 pounds in the last year. I'll take that. About 20 more to go to meet my goal.

Here are a couple charts that show how the exercise portion has been going. On the left you can see that starting in January I dramatically increased my number of steps per day. I've mentioned before how the usually includes a morning run and afternoon/evening walk. On the right you can see how those steps took a nose dive while I was dealing with the kidney stone. Apparently writhing around in pain in the recliner or bed doesn't count as steps. I'm getting back into the groove though so I expect that to return to higher levels soon.

And I'll wrap up this post with an update on the main purpose of the weight loss. and increased exercise. After seeing a scan that showed plaque buildup in my left main artery late last year, the goal from my cardiologist was to lower my LDL cholesterol number to 55. Aggressive, to be sure. However, I decided to see how close I could get without adding a new "lifetime prescription".

After six months of changing my diet to be more heart healthy and adding exercise in the form of morning runs and evening walks, I went in for another round of labs last week to see where my LDL numbers were. As with most things these days, there was some good news, but there is still work to do and decisions to be made. In terms of pure numbers, here's what the LDL number looks like. 

The LDL number is down from a peak of 133 to respectable 84 today. Good, but not quite to the target of 55. For somebody that didn't already have plaque buildup (especially in the left main artery), that would probably be OK. Can I get it lower without medication? Probably. the question is how much more can I change my diet. Also, to be fair, I wasn't quite as strict on my diet the last couple weeks due to the kidney stone issue. I probably shouldn't have had that ice cream cone at Jason's Deli the other night.

So, what does a software engineer do? He asks the AI in his health app for some advice. It has access to all my health data, including the diet and exercise info. We had a bit of a conversation about where things stand and what to do next.  The big decision is whether or not to continue on the diet and exercise changes only path, or to add in a statin. Here's were the AI Guava Assistant landed...

And so, once again I ask for prayers. Prayers that the best decision for my long term health will become obvious. I know statins are common for treating high cholesterol and they've been is use for a long time. Many of you reading this are probably taking them. The side effects are generally minimal. I get all that. I still have to weigh that against my desire to limit or even eliminate "lifetime prescriptions".

Stepping It Up

April and May have seen their ups and downs. Overall, the trend is still positive and I'm making progress things have just slowed down a little as life has thrown a couple disruptions my way.

First, the good news.

I started my exercise plan at the first of the year with a daily evening walk. My initial goals were 7000 steps and 20 "heart points" per day. Not long after, I added a daily lunchtime walk. Being in Texas, the lunchtime walk quickly got a little warm so in early March, I switched that to an early morning walk. Those morning walks started out at a fairly leisurely pace.

An example of one of my evening walks from January shows where I started. Evening walks started out at around a mile. In our hilly neighborhood, that felt like enough. Before long, I was aiming for 8000 steps per day. My lunchtime walks were about the same length and pace. 

When I moved my lunchtime walks to early morning, those started out the same. However, I decided to take advantage of the cooler mornings and started adding some stretches of jogging into the walks and gradually increased the pace and ratio of jogging to walking. I also started making the morning walks/jogs a little longer on the weekends. Morning jogs on the weekends are now usually between two and three miles.

Overall, here’s a sample of where I started (a mile walk), one of my longer weekend walks/jogs (about a 5k), and my fastest morning jog (at a pace of just under 11 minutes per mile). Considering I just started all this a few months ago and have never been a regular walker, let alone a runner, I'll take it.

Number are just numbers, and this is not the most important number, but here’s another chart that shows how my overall steps per day has also increased since last year. If you didn't already guess, that big spike from last October was the week of our Disney vacation. :-)

The bad news is not terrible, but my weight is not quite where I wanted to be at this stage. My weight loss is still headed in the right direction, just a little slower than I would like. My resolve was challenged this month by a combination of visits to Oklahoma and Florida, a family reunion buffet, a very rainy Spring, and a plumbing disaster that added a little extra stress.

The visits to Oklahoma and Florida were good, so I wouldn’t trade those for a few pounds. I’ll just need to work on staying more focused when some of those disruptions happen.

I’ve lost about 30 pounds this year (the 205 number in one my apps isn't quite right), and I'm down almost 45 pounds from my highest weight a couple years ago when I peaked at 212.

The monthly weight loss numbers for this year show how the pace has slowed a little. It’s still good, so I’ll take it and refocus.

And now for a few more odds and ends...

I've been using several apps and other resources along the way to help me out. the AI Assistant from the Guava Health app chimes in with advice from time to time.

I'm also using a calorie tracking app called MyNetDiary, and it gives me feedback as well.

Putting together these blog posts and looking at trends is how the engineer in me tries to keep the focus. The real test will be what the LDL cholesterol number looks like when I have my next appointment in July.

And I can’t end this post without one more shout-out…

Congrats to the San Antonio Spurs on winning the Western Conference Championship and heading to the NBA Finals! Go Spurs Go!

Ready to Share

Well, I've been dropping some hints and making some changes, and some of you already know most of what I'm about to post. However, for some of you this will be new news. I didn't want to make this truly public until I had a little more information. After my follow up visit with my cardiologist last Friday, I feel like I have enough info to share.

I'll start with my physical from last October. Since we were doing a bunch of tests to check on several ailments, I decided to schedule a heart scan since there is a history of heart issues in my family. Even though insurance doesn't cover this type of diagnostic scan, it seemed like a good idea at my age. I got the results on Christmas Eve.

Moderate plaque burden (101-400). Moderate non-obstructive coronary artery disease highly likely.

That didn't seem ideal. After a quick Google search, I scheduled an appointment with a cardiologist. That was on January 2nd. That led to more tests and a follow up appointment last Friday.

While all that was happening, I decided to make some changes to my diet and exercise routine. You might have noticed some posts on Facebook.

Here's a quick summary of what's happened so far:

• Heart stress test came back with good results. No defibrillator required.
• Echocardiogram came back with good results. Nothing out of the ordinary.
• Cholesterol lowered from 133 to 102. Still some work to do.
• I've lost about 25 pounds so far this year. Still a fair amount of work to do.

The report the cardiologist wrote was positive:

Weight and lifestyle: He has been working with a weight specialist and nutritionist and has lost about 22–23 pounds since the beginning of the year. He is focused on maintaining the weight loss and continuing diet changes.

Plan: Continue lifestyle changes and current blood pressure treatment. Recheck cholesterol; if LDL is still not at goal in about 3 months, cholesterol-lowering medication may be considered. Seek medical care if new or concerning heart symptoms occur. Follow up in 1 year, or sooner if symptoms develop.

There area some specifics on another page on this blog I created called "By The Numbers". You can also read additional posts to get a more complete "story" by checking the posts I made in December, January and February. Finally, there is more info about heart disease in general on another page I created called "Heart Disease 101". I've learned some things over the past several months that you might find helpful yourself.

So, Becky and I begin a new journey. I plan to update this blog as events seem to dictate.

Thanks for reading!

Heart Month 2026

American heart Month suddenly has a new importance this year. Even though I'm still in waiting and learning mode, I decided to jot down a few thoughts.

I've had a first appointment with a member of a clinical weight loss team that's being provided as a new service from my employer. No significant new insights from that team yet, but it was mostly an info gathering session. She did offer the option of prescribing some type of appetite suppressant medication if I needed help reaching my weight goals. For now, I'm going to pass. I'm hoping to get healthier and actually eliminate at least one medication. I'd rather not start by adding a new one. I'll be meeting with a dietician from that same team on Monday.

My weight loss is going at a good pace so far. I know from past diets that the first 10-20 pounds are the easiest so it will probably get harder from here. That's why I signed up for the clinical weight loss program and dietician. Hopefully I can continue losing weight without adding drugs.

Walking is also going pretty well. I try to walk about a mile at lunch, and then another mile or a bit more after dinner. I like charts and graphs, so here are a couple from a new health tracking app I've been using.

The big spike is the day Becky and I made a one-day return trip to Magic Kingdom while we were in Florida taking care of some paperwork for my mom. Double good news in that Becky was able to walk the whole ten miles that day!

Other than that, I have several appoints for more tests and a cardiologist follow-up in March.

Stay tuned!

Early Reflections

Now that I've had a couple weeks to process the news, I thought I'd share a little more. This blog is one of my forms of therapy, so it doesn't really matter if anybody reads it or not. What matters is that writing down my thoughts and experiences is one of my ways of processing things.

Since getting my "coronary artery disease" diagnosis, I've been doing a lot of research in my spare time. I've asked Dr. Google a lot of questions lately. I feel like I've changed majors in my ongoing medical internship, or maybe it's more like a dual major. I'm sure I'll start getting more ads and news stories and whatever else related to heart health soon. One of the things I learned is that coronary artery disease (CAD) goes by many names. If you've heard it referred to as coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, hardening of the arteries, or just simply heart disease, it's probably the same thing.

I learned a lot about arteries and plaque and blood clots and such. So much so that I think I'll create a whole post/page on that in the near future. I also learned that this same plaque buildup may be happening in other locations. That might help explain my frequent leg cramps. Stay tuned as I hopefully learn more about that as well.

One of the main things I learned was that plaque buildup in your arteries is not reversible. When I learned that, I decided to rename this blog from "Bill's Road to a Healthier Heart" to "Bill's Heart Disease Journey." It's not that my heart can't get healthier (it can), but the heart disease (i.e., the plaque) won't go away. I need to learn how to monitor it, keep it from getting worse, and get healthier in spite of it. Sounds a little heavy. I guess it is. I expect I'll have a better idea of how heavy after I complete some additional tests.

As it stands right now, I have a follow up appointment with my PCP in a week or so. A heart stress test and echocardiogram are scheduled for March to get a more accurate picture of where things stand. Another round of blood work and my next cardiologist appointment are scheduled for late March. In the meantime, I'm starting to work on improving my diet, lowering my weight & cholesterol, and getting more exercise.

The diet is going well. I'm using the things I've learned during a few rounds with Weight Watchers to eat better at home and when we're out. I'm combining the WW knowledge with more advice from Dr. Google regarding ways to lower cholesterol. So far, so good in the weight department. I've lost about 8 pounds in two weeks. I also found out that my employer has a new clinical weight loss program this year that provides a no-cost doctor and nutritionist to help with weight loss. I've signed up for that and have a couple appointments in the next 2-3 weeks.

My new exercise routine is starting with regular walks after lunch at work and in the evenings at home. My goals for now are 7000 steps and 20 "heart points" per day. Heart points are simply Google Fit's name for more intense/brisk walking or other more vigorous physical activity. 

My expectation is that my next cardiologist appointment is a barometer of progress, not a goal for "completion". In addition to having more data about the seriousness of the actual plaque buildup, I believe the cardiologist will want to see that I'm taking steps to significantly reduce my LDL cholesterol number and get in better shape overall. Obviously, I want that too, but I don't think there will be any kind of extreme measures taken if I'm not all the way to a 55 LDL and/or a healthy weight. I suppose that also depends on the test results. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

In the meantime, the journey continues.

Next Stops

Well, it looks like this might be another journey worth documenting. I was fortunate enough to get an appointment with a cardiologist on January 2nd. New Year's resolution number one checked off. I don't really have any definitive answers yet. Lots of questions. More tests coming.

First, what I do know from this first appointment is mostly good news. Becky and I both liked the doctor. She wants to be very aggressive in getting things under control since most of the plaque found on the CT scan was in the left main artery. She did say my heart sounded good, and the EKG they did in the office (my first EKG ever) looked good. Thumbs up on those two data points.

What we don't know is how much the artery is actually blocked. So, more tests. I have a complete echocardiogram and a stress test scheduled for March. Those will give us more data to discuss at a follow up in late March.

The main things the doctor wants me to concentrate on right now are lowering my LDL cholesterol (from 133 to 55!), losing weight, and starting to exercise. I got the feeling that the cholesterol number was the biggest goal. You can't reverse plaque buildup (which was news to me), so we need to do whatever we can to prevent it from getting any worse.

My goal is to make every effort to lower my LDL number without starting any type of statin medication. In fact, I don't want to start any more medications that could create more side effects that need to be treated and that could potentially damage my liver and/or kidneys. One transplant patient in the house is enough. That was one of the reasons I started to lose weight last summer. I wanted to see if I could lower my weight enough that I wouldn't need to stay on blood pressure medication. I was on a good path until the Disney vacation and holidays rolled around. Now I just need to get back on the bus, and maybe upgrade the bus to a Mustang or something.

So, are you ready for a new adventure? Well, ready or not, here we go! I'm starting a new journey, doing more research for my medical internship, and asking for more support from our wonderful army of prayer warriors! Let's just hope this journey doesn't accelerate into a race against time like Becky's did. 

A New Journey Begins

A new blog for a new journey.

After focusing on Becky's health and care for the past three years (see Becky's Fight), I decided to check off a few boxes regarding my own health. This new journey begins with my annual physical. I haven't been having any serious problems. There were just a few things that are part of getting older that I thought I'd discuss with my PCP.

I had been dealing with some mild back pain for the past several years. This had recently turned into more leg pain. I did some physical therapy just to confirm it was (or wasn't) muscle related. The physical therapist concluded the pain is most likely due to some nerve compression or restriction. The leg pain has been gradually easing. The back pains returns with more strenuous activity. Moving on.

I had some pain at the base of my thumb that would come and go over the years, but it seemed more consistently noticeable recently. I got a referral to see an orthopedic doctor. He confirmed it was arthritis at the base of the thumb. He said I can try a brace, anti-inflammatory meds, and even cortisone shots. Ultimately it can't be reversed. There's a surgical option if the pain becomes intolerable.

I even saw a dermatologist to check a few suspicious spots. He removed one and did a biopsy. Results determined it was a mole. Nothing to be concerned about.

We did all the normal blood work, and added in a few extras. We checked my uric acid levels since I have a history of gout, and we checked my testosterone and a few others since I had been feeling a little more fatigued than usual lately. Everything came back within normal ranges. Cholesterol is borderline, but I've been working on diet and weight loss, so we agreed to just monitor it for now. All good so far.

One more test. I decided to schedule a heart scan since there is a history of some heart issues in my family. Even though insurance doesn't cover this type of diagnostic scan, it seemed like a good idea at my age. Why doesn't insurance cover this by the way? Of all the preventative tests and scans that can be done, this seems like a cost effective way to get valuable information sooner rather than later. It probably doesn't cost as much as all the bloodwork costs. Anyway, back to the story. I got the results on Christmas Eve.

Moderate plaque burden (101-400). Moderate non-obstructive coronary artery disease highly likely. 

Well, that wasn't the Christmas present I expected. Total calcium score of 145. The primary culprit was the left main artery that was scored at 127.

I'm not sure of all the details or implications yet, but I suspect I'll be putting "Visit Cardiologist" on my list of New Year's Resolutions. In the meantime, it's time to renew my focus on eating healthier, exercising more, and losing some weight.

Stay tuned!