In 2022, after losing a ton of weight and trying to set myself on a healthier projection, I celebrated an average Tuesday by having some tacos with my wife and son. By midnight I was in the cardiac care unit with a BP of 218/130 and a pulse rate of 32 and enjoying a trip to eventual surgery and the placement of stents in three arteries.
I will not say I nearly died because in reality we were way ahead of everything, but I got my ass kicked properly.
Yesterday, after crossing my T's and dotting my I's my cardiologist told me to piss off and don't come back. Well that is what I heard at least.
Trent
PowerDork
5/30/24 2:17 p.m.
Hell yeah man!
I mean, I hope you are saying you are doing so well you no longer need his help, right?
But did he say anything about tacos?
1988RedT2 said:
But did he say anything about tacos?
Right! This seems important. If you are going to fire me as a patient, it seems that we should celebrate with tacos.
I had a Pastor that today is 96 years old, still drives a car and walks 2-3 miles every night.
Tongue in cheek he'd mention he's had over 4 family doctors and they've all died.
His retort is if their advice is that great where are they......
Trent said:
Hell yeah man!
I mean, I hope you are saying you are doing so well you no longer need his help, right?
Yes, he said "I guess we could schedule an appointment out two years, but I am not certain that's necessary."
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
He did not say "No tacos!"
What did you do in the last couple of years to get to where you don't have such drastic heart health concerns? It's wild to think that you lost a bunch of weight and were still that badly impacted with hypertension in 2022.
In reply to QuasiMofo (John Brown) :
If we take my numbers from March of '22 ( BP was 60/undectectable, 180 BPM) and average them with yours, we'd both be healthy. Welcome back, Buddy !
Keith Tanner said:
Datsun240ZGuy said:
I had a Pastor that today is 96 years old, still drives a car and walks 2-3 miles every night.
Tongue in cheek he'd mention he's had over 4 family doctors and they've all died.
His retort is if their advice is that great where are they......
I had to get my rearend checked out once. 0/5 stars, I could feel his breath on the back of my plums.
Oh btw this was at MEPs.
And more so to the point---OP, big congrats and keep it up!
In reply to QuasiMofo (John Brown) :
I'm glad you're around!
In reply to DirtyBird222 :
I had a procedure like that last year and the Doctor asked me rhetorically; do you think this was my plan when I was in medical school?
He answers, no but there's a real need for this......(and I imagine profitable too)
Congrats and the naturally attendant celebratory tacos to you!
Act of God or freak occurence?
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
Regardless of weight loss I had drank a bit too much and had a terrible diet for many years. While I got both in check there was still damage done. My right coronary artery was 97% blocked and two others were well over 70%. Since the heart attack I have had medications reduced to a minimum maintenance amount, worked at trying to alter my diet even more and have done pretty well at staying away from the hooch for the most part.
Hypertension, prediabetes and a high stress level were all factors.
DeadSkunk (Warren) said:
In reply to QuasiMofo (John Brown) :
If we take my numbers from March of '22 ( BP was 60/undectectable, 180 BPM) and average them with yours, we'd both be healthy. Welcome back, Buddy !
Look at us both now though!
Glad to hear it man! It's been awesome to see you back at the challenge, and this news is even better.
TLDR; tacos tried to kill Quasi.
My Doc sent me a nice email explaining how in his experience seeing patients every six months to check up and renew BP meds was best. I feel that watching my eating, drinking habits and getting exercise is more important. There is no requirement for me to be seen to renew meds. I will however schedule the colonoscopy.
Great news Quasi, I'm trying to follow in your footsteps. It's not always an easy road, Bourbon and tacos are good, living a long and healthy life is better.
Good news indeed.....my last one was right in the middle of the pandemic, July 1st 2020.......I died in the ER, but they used jumper cables on me and got me started again, all it took to fix me was a stent in the LAD and to clear the blood clot that had done me in......
My heart doc says once a year should be sufficient from here on out - unless something happens again. 3rd times a charm - but that one will probably finish me.
QuasiMofo (John Brown) said:
Trent said:
Hell yeah man!
I mean, I hope you are saying you are doing so well you no longer need his help, right?
Yes, he said "I guess we could schedule an appointment out two years, but I am not certain that's necessary."
There are two ways to interpret that...
akylekoz said:
My Doc sent me a nice email explaining how in his experience seeing patients every six months to check up and renew BP meds was best. I feel that watching my eating, drinking habits and getting exercise is more important. There is no requirement for me to be seen to renew meds.
They're not exclusive, though. If you're at risk, getting checked out frequently isn't a bad idea even if it only confirms that your lifestyle changes are working. That could mean lower med dosage.
Keith Tanner said:
akylekoz said:
My Doc sent me a nice email explaining how in his experience seeing patients every six months to check up and renew BP meds was best. I feel that watching my eating, drinking habits and getting exercise is more important. There is no requirement for me to be seen to renew meds.
They're not exclusive, though. If you're at risk, getting checked out frequently isn't a bad idea even if it only confirms that your lifestyle changes are working. That could mean lower med dosage.
I agree with Keith. If you were my patient (I treat these things, but I don't work on primates; don't bother calling), I would recommend rechecking every 3-6 months.
To be clear, my GP is pretty involved with my improving health and I am dedicated to not dying for as long as possible. If anything starts to look irregular am certain that I know where I will end up!
