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.