Everyone who climbs aboard the Medicare Ship gets a free “Welcome” exam from their Doc. I had mine last May. That’s when I whined about my arm still hurting after my pirouette into our carpet, and my Doc suggested an MRI, hence finding out I BROKE the darn thing! My Doc also listened to me crab about my kidney stones and said that a Calcium supplement probably isn’t in my future. (Little did he know that I was taking one every other day..It was suppose to help keep my bones strong…so much for that pill.) Dr. Erik also listened to me when I told him about our family history of heart disease….Mom, died age 64 heart attack, her Dad (my maternal Grampa), dropped dead at age 59…heart attack. Mom’s brother (my Uncle Walt) had a stroke age 67 and died. And my Dad…he was prophetic and wrote his will out because he wasn’t feeling well, then proceeded to die in his sleep 2 nights later..age 68. So you see, the “Grabber” has shown his Grimm Reaper face many times in our family…Doc suggested I see a cardiologist for a screening, due to family history. Good call, Doc.
Yes, my mother was a frustrated hair stylist and apparently loved the commercial about “I’m Buster Brown, and I live in a shoe”…For those of you who have NO idea what I am talking about, this hairdo was deemed the “Buster Brown” . Named after the goofy lookin’ kid in the commercial who lived in a shoe…Oh, and his dog named Tag. This haircut was also called the “Prince Valiant”. (Sorry, youngsters, I,m darn sure you don’t remember that prince!)
Long story short, I had my appointment with Den’s same cardio guy (whom I love and trust, as everyone SHOULD feel about their cardiologist!)…Nurse weighs me and asks me how tall I am..Trying to be funny I tell her that I use to be 6’ tall but have been steadily shrinking to my present 5’2”…She was not smiling. Then she takes my history, my blood pressure, gets an EKG of my ticker and puts me in an exam room that is the temperature of a meat locker. As she left the room she informed me that the good Dr. was behind and there were 2 patients ahead of me…THEN she smiles….Not to be outdone, I smiled and pulled a book out of my purse ..I came prepared!!
I need to interject here that I have NEVER been one with high blood pressure…In fact, they use to laugh and say I was barely alive, running a pressure usually around 110/62…..Remember, I DID live in a cemetery..HEE HEE! So, my Cardio Doc was fairly concerned when I presented a pressure of 147/90….Needless to say, so was I.
“The exact causes of high blood pressure are not known, but several factors and conditions may play a role in its development, including:
SmokingBeing overweight or obeseLack of physical activity- Too much salt in the diet
- Too much alcohol consumption (more than 1 to 2 drinks per day)
- Stress
- Older age
- Genetics
- Family history of high blood pressure
- Chronic kidney disease
- Adrenal and thyroid disorders”(?????)
I crossed off the ones I didn’t think applied…Unfortunately I didn’t get to cross off very many
Then he and gave me a copy of the Dash Diet …DASH standing for “dietary approaches to stop hypertension”.. He asked about stress..Yep, got some pretty good doses of THAT lately. And the “older age, Genetics, Family history, Chronic Kidney Disease I probably qualify for. Not sure about the adrenal and thyroid stuff, but HEY, why NOT?? Might as well have ‘em all, eh??
I am also scheduled to have a Stress Echo test at the end of August…AFTER I have been behaving (I will try my best) for a few weeks..I really will behave myself. If this will bring my BP down, I’m all in! My Mom and Dad would kick my proverbial arse if I didn’t do as the Cardio Doc said!!!
“The voice of parents is the voice of gods, for to their children they are heaven's lieutenants.”
~Shakespeare
Woooo... do I ever read you! The good thing is that you're aware and informed.... the bad thing is it takes will power (or maybe "won't power") to cut down on the salt etc. (Do I sound like I've gone through the same thing?)... Just think of the crazy blogs you'll be writing about adjusting your life to this... maybe even write a book!
ReplyDeleteYes...The salt will be easier to give up than the wine!
DeleteBut we need everything I suppose. Some wine and some salt too. Not only for our food balance, but for some life pleasure - it's really important to have nice life.
DeleteBest regards.
I would have preferred the Buster Brown to the hair style my mother gave me for my confirmation picture. My sister had a copy of that picture and would tell her friends I was her retarded sister. :(
ReplyDeleteOK...Come on with the tease..I want the picture!
DeleteJohn and I both dropped our B.P. by eating a plant based diet. If you are interested, read the book or better yet watch the DVD of "Forks over Knives".....Thanks to our daughter, it changed our lives...and health.
ReplyDeletethanks for the tip...unfortunately I am a steak and prime rib lover...However..I DO love fish!
DeleteI sure hope your adjusted lifestyle will lower your BP. Mike has been having high BP pressure for about a year and he went to the Doc today and it was STILL up. He changed his medication. I think we all just need to take off in our campers and chill-ax a bit. We have just purchased a "new to us" Casita. I posted a blog today (first one in a year) telling all about it. I hope this will help his BP.
ReplyDeleteLove the hairstyle...I had one just about like it. We must have been trend setters!! :-)
Take care of yourself!!
I've really been bad lately, allowing myself to drink wine, but I'm under so much stress getting te house ready!
ReplyDeleteI just started reading the book "Eat to Live" on my Kindle. This Dr. says you don't have to give up meat entirely, but need to really increase the vege's and fruit.
ReplyDeleteI'm really not looking forward to my visit with the doc this year. I know she wanted me to lose some weight and I may have lost 5 pounds which doesn't mean a thing. However, my blood pressure is about perfect. This getting older is sure tough on our food choices. I don't drink, except water, so that one isn't an issue for me.
ReplyDeleteI am still looking for the guy who labeled this the "golden years" !
ReplyDeleteOh boy, sorry for all this. And they want you to eliminate stress, and this adds more. I am like you I like my meat but I fortunately don't have high blood pressure. And pretzels without salt yuk!
ReplyDeleteMy Dad used to say getting old was no fun and I guess he was right. My older age issues are just things that hurt that didn't used to. Good luck and I hope it all goes well and helps you to get healthy.
Good luck lowering the BP, sad that it includes lowering the wine intake. Sure hope you can get it back to where it needs to be.
ReplyDeleteHugs
Glad I don't drink wine just Bush Light...lol
ReplyDeleteYou can do it, Donna - except maybe for the alcohol part, I don't know. Maybe you could cut out more salt and add more alcohol to balance things out. But, don't blame me if your BP goes up!! Getting older is fun, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your support and advice....I intend to get this under control. The only real part I have trouble controlling is the stress part!
ReplyDeleteI hear ya on the stress part. I like playing ostrich...lol. Bummer on the cocktail front....Hang in there!
ReplyDelete