Surgery side effects

    I have been reading quite a bit about the procedures for open heart surgery and bypass surgery and I am really amazed that there is so little information on the things that you can run into following the surgery. For example, if the surgeon uses the mammary artery in your chest as one of the bypass grafts (which is a great idea, it's already there and already hooked to your aorta) there will be a pretty large numb spot on your chest. The area on my chest that has no feeling at all is sort of circle shaped and about 4 inches in diameter. I can't feel a thing in that area. It starts at the incision and stretches almost to my underarm. It's very strange feeling.
    I also have a large area with no feeling high on my inner right thigh where the surgeon took the vein for two grafts. It is about the same size as the area on my chest. I do not know if these areas will come back at all over time, but it's a small price to pay I guess.
    The main problem is that the surgery has done something to my voice and also to my taste and smell. Nothing tastes good anymore. I tried a hamburger and a vegetable burger and I can't taste any difference at all. They have no real taste to me anymore. I had some pizza tonight and couldn't taste it. The only things that taste right are fruits. Apples, pears, pineapple, grapes and oranges taste as they should and are very good, but that's about all. I hope that my sense of smell and taste come back, but it's already been three weeks, I just don't know.
    As for my voice, Kim tells me that I now sound like Clint Eastwood in the "Dirty Harry" movies. It's sort of a raspy-ness in my throat that won't go away. Again, I don't know if it is permanent or not. I don't mind the change in my voice or the numb spots but I do hope I can enjoy food again someday. Right now I don't even really get hungry and need to force myself to eat.
    I will continue to add side effects as I find out more so anyone getting ready for this surgery knows what they can expect. I hope nobody in the family ever needs the surgery besides me. But the Parrotts have been pretty good about passing on the genes for heart problems. I am glad that I am the one with the most trouble right now instead of this happening to Dad or my sister Tracy, or anyone else in the family. I can handle it but I don't want anyone else to go through it.

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Smoke em if you got em! Or not!

    Let's tackle one of the tough topics, smoking. I smoked for over 25 years. For some of those 25 years I smoked over 2 packs a day, but in recent years I have rarely smoked more than a single pack a day. I told myself I was cutting down. Some days I wanted to quit smoking, but on most days I really didn't want to quit, I enjoyed it. Cigarettes taste so good to a smoker, the calm you down when things are hectic and they curb hunger too. I can tell you all about medical research that proves nicotine causes no ill effects to the heart, which is true but misleading.
    So how does smoking hurt us? First, nicotine causes your blood vessels to constrict or get smaller. That's why your fingers get cold if you are a smoker. The vessels constrict and not as much blood can get through them. Now think about your garden hose. Let's say you have one that is an inch in diameter. You turn on the water and it runs out at a decent rate, right? Now hook up a new 1/2 inch hose and turn on the water, it will really shoot out of there. There is not as much space in the hose, so the pressure is increased by the flow of the water. The same thing happens in your body. The blood vessels are smaller from the nicotine and the pressure is increased. Add to that the fact that I had high blood pressure to begin with and it starts to push the needle into the red. Now let's add in the fact that there is cholesterol and fat building up in my arteries, making them even smaller. Now I am in deep trouble, right?
    The problem is that even though my brain can see what the problem is, and I know that I need to quit smoking, I just can't do it. My body needs the stuff, I am addicted and I need to get off the nicotine and things will be alright. That's what I think anyway. The truth? I have not had a cigarette since February 29th and I had a dream about smoking just about an hour ago. It was SO nice to sit down and smoke one more cigarette. What kind of screwed up mind dreams about something that will kill you and makes you want to do it? I have the urge to smoke every day, but I don't. It would be so nice to just go to the store and buy a pack and smoke one if the urge got really bad, but then my mind would justify the addiction and I would just start smoking more and more.
    I have a prescription for Chantix, it's waiting for me at the pharmacy. I gave it to them but told them not to fill it unless I need it. I want to do this on my own, so I am waiting. Right now I am not allowed to drive and there are no smokes here in the house so I can't smoke, but what happens when I am free to move about and go to the store? I really think I will be fine, sure sometimes I get a hankering for a smoke, but it passes. Even though the Doc says not to drive, my truck is in the driveway and the store is about 2 miles away, so I could go get some cigarettes if I really wanted to, but I haven't and do not plan to.
    I just ordered a new MP3 player and next week when I can drive again I plan on heading down to the track at the fairgrounds and start walking for exercise. I'll get through the non-smoking just fine. I know I can do it and I know that with the medical advances we have available today that anyone can quit.
    My wife Kim has also quit smoking and I am very proud of her for doing so. I told her that she didn't need to quit on my account but she said that she really wanted to get off the things too and that this was a good time to quit. She's the greatest.
   

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Cholesterol - Clogging of the arteries

I recently found out a few things about cholesterol and some medications for the problem that I thought I would share.
Following my two heart attacks, the doctors put me on Lipitor to help control my high cholesterol levels. After having the open heart surgery I have delved into the problems a bit more than I had before, maybe because I am now more worried and actually taking part more in my well being than before.
First, let's get the whole "good" and "bad" cholesterol thing hammered out. You have two different types of cholesterol in your blood. There is LDL and HDL cholesterol. HDL is the good stuff and can be remembered by thinking of Happy Cholesterol, 'H' for Happy, HDL. I know it's corny but it helps. LDL is the cholesterol you want to be in low levels in your blood. The lower the better. This is the one that clogs those arteries and causes most of the problems. HDL on the other hand is the good stuff. It actually breaks down the plaque and fat that is building up in your arteries and can help to clean out the works. You want it high.
So how do we get the LDL down and the HDL up? There are a couple of ways for each. We can rely on medication to assist us. There are a few cholesterol lowering drugs out there such as Lipitor and Crestor. The problem I ran into was that my LDL was so high that the doctors tried raising my dosage of Lipitor enough to make a difference. However, at high levels Lipitor can also get rid of HDL which is a bad thing.
Niacin can be used to raise HDL. The main problem with taking niacin is how it makes you feel. A doctor will tell you that it will make you feel flushed. Bull! It makes you feel like you have caught on fire inside and the fire is spreading all over your body. It's a bad feeling, believe me. There is something you can do about this reaction. Since your doctor probably has you on Aspirin, you can take your Aspirin about 15 minutes before you go to bed, then right before you head off to bed, take the niacin. It works, and keeps the flushing feeling at bay.
So what if we don't want to rely on pills? The only thing you can do is watch your diet and probably change a lot of things. Very little fat intake, no burgers or bacon or pork chops. Nothing with a lot of cholesterol in it like eggs or dairy products. You need to eat things high in HDL such as legumes. (What the heck is a legume, you ask?) Beans, lots of beans. Lima beans are a good choice for HDL but others work well too. I found a good recipe for a vegetarian chili that is actually really good. Put lots of beans in it, different beans like navy beans and kidney beans and garbanzo beans and any other bean you have lying around. Vegetables are good sources of HDL. Pick up a good heart healthy cookbook and find some things you like in it.
No, I'm not preaching about changing your diet, I have a hard time with it myself. I love bacon! But I have found that turkey bacon isn't too bad. It's not the best and it is definitely not real bacon, but it's alright.
Some things that you can find in the grocery really are not too bad. My sister says that there are ribs made from tofu that really taste like ribs, and vegetables that have been ground up that taste a bit like hamburger in chili and things. I'm not going to just say she's crazy, I'll try some of the stuff for myself. I urge everyone to do the same.
My sister just let me know that the way to remember LDL is "Lousy". So you have Happy cholesterol in HDL and Lousy cholesterol in LDL. It may be corny, as I mentioned before, but if it helps me remember which is which then I don't care. Thanks Teacup!

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Genetics and the heart

    Every time I have talked to a doctor about my heart , they have always asked about family history of heart disease. That should give us all a clue that genetics is one of the main things that governs heart trouble.
    In my case there was a lot of cause to worry. My grandfather had two heart attacks, before the doctors really knew what to do about them. He was in the hospital for a while, then told to go home and get exercise every chance he got. Over the years his heart got worse and finally he had a by-pass surgery that lasted him the rest of his life. My father also had some trouble, never a heart attack, but it was a close call. He went to see his cardiologist who recommended angioplasty and stent placement. All went well and he is just fine.
    My sister, three years older than me, had a heart attack at the age of 47 and had some stents inserted. She is also doing very well. Then there is me. I had heart attacks and stent placements, then I had to have the by-pass operation.
    Anyone looking at this short history can see that there are forces at work within the family. There has got to be a genetic link that makes us all susceptible to heart disease and blockage of arteries.
    So what about you? Did either parent have heart problems? Grandparents pass on problems as well and we should all take family history of heart disease very seriously. Make sure your children know about your history so they can guard against future problems.

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Welcome - The story thus far

    I am beginning this blog following a very important event in my life. On March 3rd of 2008 I had a triple bypass operation to repair blocked arteries of my heart.
    I have had heart problems for quite a few years. I had my first heart attack when I was 38 years old and another five years later. Both of the attacks were followed up with angioplasty and the insertion of stents to hold the arteries open. They worked for the most part, but I am stubborn and didn't take good care of myself or the stents.
    I began having some chest pains in late 2007, but I didn't think much of them. I only realize what was going on in retrospect since the pain was never very bad at all. By February of 2008 I was well aware of what was happening and made an appointment with a cardiologist to get checked out.
    I went to see my new cardiologist on February 29th, (Leap Day) and explained what had been going on. My doctor listened to me and asked pertinent questions. He is a very good doctor. He then told me that based on what I was telling him and on the results of an EKG that he could not allow me to leave and that he was scheduling me for a cardiac catheter that evening so we could check it all out. It turned out that I had a 97% blockage in two places and a 99% blockage in another. The worst blockage was at a stent which had plugged up pretty good over time.
    After consulting with a surgeon and talking with me about the possibilities, we all decided that open heart surgery was the best option. So at the age of 46 I went in for the operation.
15 days later and I am feeling pretty well. I can walk to the mailbox (about 100 yards) with no problem. I am getting a bit better every day.
    I plan for this blog to be about the early detection of heart problems and suggestions for everyone about things they can do to head off the possible outcome of lifestyle and genetic problems. I am not a doctor but I have learned quite a bit over the years (most of which I have chosen to ignore until now) and if I can help even one other person then I plan on doing so.

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