Good afternoon family and friends,
I hope everyone is doing well. Please take a moment of your time today and do something for you. Something that you have not done for yourself in quite some time. It will do you good.
This morning I woke up and the sun was shinning! What? In Seattle? No way, you say. Well, it is a beautiful day. There is a slight breeze and the sun is high in the sky with a little bit of haze (smog, yeah just a little).
This morning I went to cardiac therapy. This would be my 3rd visit. Today, I was more tired than usual and a little less than enthusiastic about spending an hour in a gym working out with 6 men over the age of 67. It can be really depressing knowing just a few weeks ago, I could run, jump, dance, bake, cook, bike, swim, drive, walk by myself, go to Costco without sitting in that cart, make love with my husband (all those nights he said no, I should have forced him lol) just to name a few things.
If I think about it too much, it can get a little depressing. So as of late, I have been trying to put together some ideas for a vegan heart healthy (low-sodium, low-fat) cookbook. I know for most of you, vegan is not your favorite way to eat. But, you would be surprised at how difficult it is to find convenient vegan food that is low in sodium.
I just want to do something different but I have not figured it out just yet. I was going to finish the cookbook I had already started but most of my recipes are on little pieces of paper back home in DC, scattered about the house.
I know I have some new recipes in me however, it is difficult to create a recipe when you cannot even test it. So, I will keep you posted.
Thanks for reading
Monday, August 17, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Feeling Like I'm Out to Lunch
Good Afternoon My Good Friends;
I know, I know...it has been many days since I have given you some updates on my health status. To tell you the truth, I have no real excuses. Sure, I have been tired. Sure, my computer has crashed about 20 times in the last week alone. Sure, I am visiting the hospital almost every day. But it takes just 5 minutes to write something. So I am promising to make more of an effort to write (at least for my own sanity).
Dr. Rebecca Duke, my wonderful primary care physician, decided that she would run comprehensive blood tests on me. She covered Lyme's disease, Celiac disease, nutritional and vitamin deficiencies and toxicities and some other tests that I had never really heard of. She has not left any stone unturned. Well, I have those results sitting right next to me and I have to tell you that they found nothing amiss. Other than my BNP (Brain Natriuretic Peptide) levels being high (1300), every thing is normal. Sigh. The good news is there is nothing wrong with me. I am perfectly health. The bad news, it could be that I just have a not so happy heart.
More tests? Well there is this one test that Dr. Howard Lewis, my wonderful cardiologist, wants to have done. It's called a CTA (Computed Tomography Angiogram). What does this test do, you ask? Well, it helps identify disease and aneurysms in the aorta both in the chest and in the abdomen, or in any other major blood vessels, sample blood from specific veins in the body to detect any endocrine disease and help detect any other blood disorders or blockages.
Well, I was suppose to have this test done on Tuesday but the Medical Director, John Tornow from TriWest Health Alliance, has denied the procedure. Dr. John Tornow says that "the clinical documentation received does not support the medical necessity for the service(s) requested." Hummmm. I am currently in stable heart failure with no cause. Currently, three doctors are looking for the cause of my heart failure because if they find a cause it could help them treat me correctly and successfully. Thereby saving my life or at least increasing the quality of my life.
I am not sure what Dr. Tornow knows or doesn't know about Acute Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy but I am sure what he doesn't know is I will call his office every day and harass his secretary, as well as send a letter to his office every day, until he over-turns his denial decision. I have so much time on my hands, it would be my pleasure to do this. I have plenty of money for stamps and unlimited minutes on my cell phone. (Also, all three of my doctors are presenting their appeals as well. So this should help.)
For all of you who think that just because you have health care, a great health care coverage, it can all be taken away from you or denied at anytime. Here I am with a condition that can make my heart stop at anytime (and kill me) and these fools are making decisions that keep my doctors in the dark about my diagnoses. I could scream but, yawl wont hear me.
I know, I know...it has been many days since I have given you some updates on my health status. To tell you the truth, I have no real excuses. Sure, I have been tired. Sure, my computer has crashed about 20 times in the last week alone. Sure, I am visiting the hospital almost every day. But it takes just 5 minutes to write something. So I am promising to make more of an effort to write (at least for my own sanity).
So let me tell you what as been going on in the last two weeks.
Dr. Rebecca Duke, my wonderful primary care physician, decided that she would run comprehensive blood tests on me. She covered Lyme's disease, Celiac disease, nutritional and vitamin deficiencies and toxicities and some other tests that I had never really heard of. She has not left any stone unturned. Well, I have those results sitting right next to me and I have to tell you that they found nothing amiss. Other than my BNP (Brain Natriuretic Peptide) levels being high (1300), every thing is normal. Sigh. The good news is there is nothing wrong with me. I am perfectly health. The bad news, it could be that I just have a not so happy heart.
So how do we get it happy?
More tests? Well there is this one test that Dr. Howard Lewis, my wonderful cardiologist, wants to have done. It's called a CTA (Computed Tomography Angiogram). What does this test do, you ask? Well, it helps identify disease and aneurysms in the aorta both in the chest and in the abdomen, or in any other major blood vessels, sample blood from specific veins in the body to detect any endocrine disease and help detect any other blood disorders or blockages.
Well, I was suppose to have this test done on Tuesday but the Medical Director, John Tornow from TriWest Health Alliance, has denied the procedure. Dr. John Tornow says that "the clinical documentation received does not support the medical necessity for the service(s) requested." Hummmm. I am currently in stable heart failure with no cause. Currently, three doctors are looking for the cause of my heart failure because if they find a cause it could help them treat me correctly and successfully. Thereby saving my life or at least increasing the quality of my life.
I am not sure what Dr. Tornow knows or doesn't know about Acute Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy but I am sure what he doesn't know is I will call his office every day and harass his secretary, as well as send a letter to his office every day, until he over-turns his denial decision. I have so much time on my hands, it would be my pleasure to do this. I have plenty of money for stamps and unlimited minutes on my cell phone. (Also, all three of my doctors are presenting their appeals as well. So this should help.)
For all of you who think that just because you have health care, a great health care coverage, it can all be taken away from you or denied at anytime. Here I am with a condition that can make my heart stop at anytime (and kill me) and these fools are making decisions that keep my doctors in the dark about my diagnoses. I could scream but, yawl wont hear me.
Great News
I started Cardiac Therapy this week
I started on Wednesday. Lori is one of the in-take nurses for the program and I think she is too cool. We talked for three hours. She showed me some pretty interesting documents and took my measurements. I was in for a big surprise. I have finally hit 150 lbs. This is a great thing. When I was admitted to the hospital on July 7th, I was 157.3 lbs. Now I know I have not lost much weight, fat...maybe I have lost a little muscle mass (it shrunk because of lack of use I'm sure), but this means what ever fluid that is in and around my internal organs is coming out. This is a great relief. Now the bad news. 45 lbs of me is pure fat and I do not mean phat. this means, I have got a lot of work to do. Of course, I cannot do what I would normally do, get in the gym 7 days a week and lift until my arms and legs fall. So I will do what the therapists say and wait until my heart heals a little more before I get my burn on.
Yesterday was my first workout day
OH BOY
My therapist, Lindsy. Lovely girl. She tried to kill me. Well, she didn't know she was trying to kill me. She worked me out and afterwards that I slept for 3 hours in the back seat of my Mom's car, while my Mom was running a very important errand. I am sure all the people walking by were thinking something was wrong with me. Now I have to say that I normally have a love hate relationship with sleep. I hate to sleep (thinking that I am going to miss out on something) but, I love the way I feel after I get some sleep (not nearly as grumpy).
It wasn't like she really worked me out. I did 7 minutes on the treadmill, 8 minutes on the stationary bike and 8 minutes on a recumbent stair stepper. Then we did some light weights (3 lbs). I felt fine. In fact, I wanted to continue. But, I guess my heart had other plans for me.
Now today
My workout was much easier. Terra and Lisa are my new PTs. They told me that I was worked out too much yesterday and to expect my sessions to be much slower. I was encouraged by Terra. She told me they had a patient earlier this year that improved her heart efficiency by 40%. I am so hoping for the same results. That means I would be close enough to normal that I could get back to work and starting on that family my husband and I want to have. Now interestingly enough, she was an airline attendant (flight attendant,steward) and completely healthy. She was also diagnosed with Acute Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy with no known cause. Maybe there is a connection with high altitudes and some type of reaction (allergy or something that would cause histamine to increase in the blood stream). Just a thought.
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