One month since the cathetrization and 3 full weeks of training. I need to focus more on the zone 1 work. Total time in zone 1 was only 44 minutes. On the plus side, I exceeded Zone 2 work by over 2 hours and cut my zone 3 work in half.
Splurged and laid out $20 for a couple of pieces of Alaskan Salmon, but to tell you the truth I might just like our Lake Erie Walleye more.
I was a little disappointed with last weeks weight loss total of 1.6 pounds so I wanted to step up the workouts a little bit. I added 3 cycling workouts to the daily walks.
Weekly Summary:
Total Exercise Time: 8 hours 15 minues
Zone 1:....0:43:49
Zone 2:....5:17:57
Zone 3:...1:28:44
Total Miles Logged: 43.87
Calories Burned: 4,183
Weight Lossed: 2.8 pounds (193.2)
Next weeks goal: Improve Zone 1 work.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
The Exercise Program in Full Swing
Been on the Ornish Diet for three weeks now with pretty dramatic results. Weight at time of heart catheterization was 211 and at the start of this week is down to 200. Well on my way towards my goal of 39 pounds in 13 weeks..
My program calls for 5 hours and 10 minutes of exercise per week split into two heart rate zones. Zone 1 is low intensity walking at 60-70% of maximum heart rate(98-113 bpm). Zone 2 is moderate intensity of 70-80% MHR. Since my first goal is weight loss the program calls for 2 hours per week in zone 1 and 3 hours and 10 minutes in zone 2. Zone 3 80-90% of MHR is will come into play in phase 2 of my program.
Fell a little short in zone 1 work with only 53 minutes of my 120 minute goal, but came a little closer to zone 2 goal with 2 hours and 45 minutes being only 30 minutes shy of my goal. Zone 3 which isn't even part of this program accounted for more than half of my exercise time.
Overall thou, I'm pretty happy with the results. Six hours and 27 minutes of exercise with 3,194 calories burned on the week.
Weekly Summary
Time by Zone:
Zone 1... 53:36
Zone 2... 2:44:34
Zone 3...3:38:10
Miles Logged: 26.42
Weight: 196 -1.6 pounds this week.
This weeks goal: More zone 1 & 2; less zone 3.
My program calls for 5 hours and 10 minutes of exercise per week split into two heart rate zones. Zone 1 is low intensity walking at 60-70% of maximum heart rate(98-113 bpm). Zone 2 is moderate intensity of 70-80% MHR. Since my first goal is weight loss the program calls for 2 hours per week in zone 1 and 3 hours and 10 minutes in zone 2. Zone 3 80-90% of MHR is will come into play in phase 2 of my program.
Fell a little short in zone 1 work with only 53 minutes of my 120 minute goal, but came a little closer to zone 2 goal with 2 hours and 45 minutes being only 30 minutes shy of my goal. Zone 3 which isn't even part of this program accounted for more than half of my exercise time.
Overall thou, I'm pretty happy with the results. Six hours and 27 minutes of exercise with 3,194 calories burned on the week.
Weekly Summary
Time by Zone:
Zone 1... 53:36
Zone 2... 2:44:34
Zone 3...3:38:10
Miles Logged: 26.42
Weight: 196 -1.6 pounds this week.
This weeks goal: More zone 1 & 2; less zone 3.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Dr. Bhakta
Met with Dr. Bhakta today and got great news. He reviewed the transcript from the catheterization and the previous stress test. I've been walking 3-4 miles per day for more than a week now and sticking to the diet. Dropped the weight from 211 to 200 and feeling great.
Along with my test results, I gave the doctor a copy of my spreadsheet of my workout log. Since the stress test showed plenty of blood getting to all areas of the heart he felt it was perfectly fine for me to resume playing baseball He said that playing ball was less stress than the walking I've been doing. I was so happy to get that news, I forgot about asking him if it was OK to do the horizontal mamba again.
Dr. Bhakta was very familiar with the Ornish diet and thought my course of action was a good one. He also said that bypass surgery did very little to reduce the risk of dying from a heart attack. He told me of a recent study where half the patients received bypass and the other half were treated with drugs. Incidents of heart attacks were nearly identical in the two groups.
An echo-cardiogram was ordered and it was agreed we would review progress after 90 days.
Along with my test results, I gave the doctor a copy of my spreadsheet of my workout log. Since the stress test showed plenty of blood getting to all areas of the heart he felt it was perfectly fine for me to resume playing baseball He said that playing ball was less stress than the walking I've been doing. I was so happy to get that news, I forgot about asking him if it was OK to do the horizontal mamba again.
Dr. Bhakta was very familiar with the Ornish diet and thought my course of action was a good one. He also said that bypass surgery did very little to reduce the risk of dying from a heart attack. He told me of a recent study where half the patients received bypass and the other half were treated with drugs. Incidents of heart attacks were nearly identical in the two groups.
An echo-cardiogram was ordered and it was agreed we would review progress after 90 days.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Test Results in
Met with Dr. Patel today to review the results from last Thursday's catheterization. Test showed 60-70% blockage in the left main coronary artery. We discussed options and he felt that bypass surgery was my best option. I asked him if he had ever heard about Dr. Ornish's reversing diet. He didn't and his main concern was that the type of plaque I had was a softer plaque that could break loose and cause a heart attack.
In discussing the diet and medication option, he felt that most people don't have the discipline to follow such a stringent diet. He doesn't know me! After all I was so obsessed with running in high school that I had a streak of running at least 2 miles per day with an average of 6 miles per day over a 800 day period. That's not missing a day in nearly 3 years, rain, snow, blistering heat and numbing cold.
He prescribed a beta blocker to lower my heart rate, aspirin and cholesterol lowering medication and was ok with waiting a couple months to see what affect the diet, exercise and medication program has.
I was leaning toward taking the doctors advise and scheduling the surgery and even went as far calling the Cleveland Clinic to get on the schedule, but told the Doctor I wanted to get a 2nd opinion and asked him to refer me to a good cardiologist. He recommended Dr. Bhatka at UH Geneva. Appointment next Monday.
Ok to start walking, but no sex or baseball. Bummer, the team was starting to win and I was really zoned in at the plate.
We've been on the Ornish program for almost a week now. Did cheat a little bit when we shared a grilled chicken breast in a salad. It's not too bad, grocery shopping takes a lot longer because we find ourselves reading the labels on everything. Pretty shocking that crap I've been putting in the temple all these years.
In discussing the diet and medication option, he felt that most people don't have the discipline to follow such a stringent diet. He doesn't know me! After all I was so obsessed with running in high school that I had a streak of running at least 2 miles per day with an average of 6 miles per day over a 800 day period. That's not missing a day in nearly 3 years, rain, snow, blistering heat and numbing cold.
He prescribed a beta blocker to lower my heart rate, aspirin and cholesterol lowering medication and was ok with waiting a couple months to see what affect the diet, exercise and medication program has.
I was leaning toward taking the doctors advise and scheduling the surgery and even went as far calling the Cleveland Clinic to get on the schedule, but told the Doctor I wanted to get a 2nd opinion and asked him to refer me to a good cardiologist. He recommended Dr. Bhatka at UH Geneva. Appointment next Monday.
Ok to start walking, but no sex or baseball. Bummer, the team was starting to win and I was really zoned in at the plate.
We've been on the Ornish program for almost a week now. Did cheat a little bit when we shared a grilled chicken breast in a salad. It's not too bad, grocery shopping takes a lot longer because we find ourselves reading the labels on everything. Pretty shocking that crap I've been putting in the temple all these years.
Friday, July 29, 2011
A whole new life style
No, I'm not turning gay! Just changing the way I eat and exercise. Went online and found out what I could about Dr. Ornish's heart healing diet. In a nutshell no animal products except egg whites and fat free milk and exercise 30 minutes a day. The diet's slogan is "Eat More Weigh Less"
Not a decision I'm taking lightly or without risks. Immediate goal is to drop about 40 pounds and about the same amount of cholesterol. Thirty five years of the "Good Life" has taken it's toll. May 28th, 1976 when I got married I weighed 128 pounds. A little over 2 pounds a year has made this man fat. Now I'm hoping to drop 3 pounds a week by eating right and exercising daily.
Ordered several of Dr. Ornish's books and found a bunch of vegetarian recipes that look pretty tasty. It's definitely going to be a challenge though.
As soon as the gaping wound in my groin heals, the walking will start.
Not a decision I'm taking lightly or without risks. Immediate goal is to drop about 40 pounds and about the same amount of cholesterol. Thirty five years of the "Good Life" has taken it's toll. May 28th, 1976 when I got married I weighed 128 pounds. A little over 2 pounds a year has made this man fat. Now I'm hoping to drop 3 pounds a week by eating right and exercising daily.
Ordered several of Dr. Ornish's books and found a bunch of vegetarian recipes that look pretty tasty. It's definitely going to be a challenge though.
As soon as the gaping wound in my groin heals, the walking will start.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
The Heart Catheterization
Met with Dr. Dorosti at the Cleveland Clinic. A very experienced doctor from Iran who graduated from medical school in Tehran in 1967 but performed his internship at the Jewish Hospital Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY.
Dr. Dorosti reviewed my chart and family history and concurred that a cath was in order. He explained what was going on and what the risks of the procedure were and we decided to go forward with the test the next day.
The next day we went back to the Cleveland Clinic and got prepped for the test and when I was moved to the cath department I had two other patients before me so I had to wait about two hours.
Finally the time arrives and as I'm lying on the table in the procedure room with all of this high tech equipment all around me, I have my first real thoughts of my mortality. Although the percentages are very small, about 1 in 1,000 of these procedures are not survived. When the procedure started, I was prepared to die but not afraid to. I had lived a good life, raised two of the best kids a father could ever ask for. I am fully awake through the procedure watching the monitors and seeing the probe enter different sections of the heart. I was even able to carry on a conversation with the doctor. It was almost like I was in the movie "Fantastic Voyage" from the mid 60's when A diplomat is nearly assassinated. In order to save him, a submarine is shrunken to microscopic size and injected into his blood stream with a small crew.
The test confirms a blockage of 60-70% in my left main coronary artery, but much less blockage in the other arteries. The blockage was not in an area conducive to placing a stint, so the test was ended.
The Options: After reviewing the film of the procedure, the doctor came to talk with us and gave us 3 options. First option was to have a couple of stints placed in the artery with the blockage, but it was complicated by a branch off. One stint would be placed above the branch and a 2nd below. The procedure could be done, but there was a chance the two stints could grow together and cause a total blockage.
Option 2 was to have a bypass procedure where the would take a mammary artery and sew it to the heart above and below the blockage, thus bypassing it.
Option 3 was to use medication to lower the risks of heart atack.
The Doctor felt the the bypass surgery was my best option, but that I should think it over and decide. My current condition was not life threatening at the moment, so I had a little time. On the way home from the hospital I called one of my baseball teammates who is a doctor and told him what they found. He suggested a consider a fourth option which involves a rather significant life style change of diet and exorcise, specifically a program by Dr. Dean Ornish, a cardiologist who developed a diet program that has been clinically proven to reverse heart disease.
Dr. Dorosti reviewed my chart and family history and concurred that a cath was in order. He explained what was going on and what the risks of the procedure were and we decided to go forward with the test the next day.
The next day we went back to the Cleveland Clinic and got prepped for the test and when I was moved to the cath department I had two other patients before me so I had to wait about two hours.
Finally the time arrives and as I'm lying on the table in the procedure room with all of this high tech equipment all around me, I have my first real thoughts of my mortality. Although the percentages are very small, about 1 in 1,000 of these procedures are not survived. When the procedure started, I was prepared to die but not afraid to. I had lived a good life, raised two of the best kids a father could ever ask for. I am fully awake through the procedure watching the monitors and seeing the probe enter different sections of the heart. I was even able to carry on a conversation with the doctor. It was almost like I was in the movie "Fantastic Voyage" from the mid 60's when A diplomat is nearly assassinated. In order to save him, a submarine is shrunken to microscopic size and injected into his blood stream with a small crew.
The test confirms a blockage of 60-70% in my left main coronary artery, but much less blockage in the other arteries. The blockage was not in an area conducive to placing a stint, so the test was ended.
The Options: After reviewing the film of the procedure, the doctor came to talk with us and gave us 3 options. First option was to have a couple of stints placed in the artery with the blockage, but it was complicated by a branch off. One stint would be placed above the branch and a 2nd below. The procedure could be done, but there was a chance the two stints could grow together and cause a total blockage.
Option 2 was to have a bypass procedure where the would take a mammary artery and sew it to the heart above and below the blockage, thus bypassing it.
Option 3 was to use medication to lower the risks of heart atack.
The Doctor felt the the bypass surgery was my best option, but that I should think it over and decide. My current condition was not life threatening at the moment, so I had a little time. On the way home from the hospital I called one of my baseball teammates who is a doctor and told him what they found. He suggested a consider a fourth option which involves a rather significant life style change of diet and exorcise, specifically a program by Dr. Dean Ornish, a cardiologist who developed a diet program that has been clinically proven to reverse heart disease.
Monday, July 18, 2011
CTA Results
Doctor Patel's office calls and the doctor wants to see me today. The results are back and he has some concerns. Analysis of the CTA scan are back and there is evidence of some significant blockage. Doc now wants me to have a heart catheterization to determine the extent and location of any blockage. When he asks if I had a preference of where I wanted to have it done, I said "The Cleveland Clinic" before he could even finish the sentence. After all we have perhaps the most renowned heart hospital in the world in our back yard, why not take advantage of it.
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