I’m 68 and had double bypass 5 months ago. No symptoms, no heart attack, I was otherwise fit and well. Was found by chance. I’ve been blessed with a good recovery and it is now becoming just a tough memory. I’m so thankful that my journey has been relatively straight forward.
I’m 170 pounds, lost 15 in Op period, now back to 170 pounds. I play golf and exercise etc BUT my diet is not good, I’ve slipped back to old ways of butter, pizza, chocolate, salt, and some wine. Nothing excessive but I’m racked with guilt that I’m abusing this gift of more health that has been given to me. Two mammary glands were used for my Op which I believe are very robust at fighting fatty deposit build up, and I’m now taking statins, so I think I’m deluded into thinking I can fall back into old ways and be fine.
Given I’m older and want to enjoy my life to the full, I don’t really want to become a monk and live to 90 and not 80, but maybe I need a swift kick up the proverbial also to shake me out of complacency - your comfort or Kick would be equally welcomed.
Thanks fellow Hearties
Terry
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Telboi
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Good to hear about your positive recovery. I believe moderation is the key with your question...
Sharing an experience, I was given a massive boot up the arse by my cardiologist of all people when I had FOUR separate angioplasties within the space of a year. This was when I had made the decision to become a monk few years back and cut out meat, processed food, fats, sugar, etc. thinking it would help, to get on top of my cardiac condition.... long story short, weight plummeted (not much to me to begin with at 70kg), ended up having said procedures and cardiologist going ballistic about me doing this perfect monk diet!
He told me to go back to eating normally and enjoying some of the naughtier things, like what you have mentioned, all within a context. He explained ‘moderation’ is the key and that life is for living, for enjoying... it was a bit of a shock coming from him but the message rammed home.
So I would say don’t feel guilty, so long as you are maintaining a healthy diet generally, and exercising which you do, try to moderate your intake of the naughty stuff but still have some. To give you an example a small bar of chocolate with say 5 tabs will last me 5 days... I know that will be a shock to most on here but I’ve adjusted, it’s almost weening yourself to a lower level. I’m having one choc tab per day as a naughty treat and it takes the edge off 😉. Not suggesting you do exactly the same but this is just to share one example of what I do and it also helps to keep the guilt in check.
Hope that helps a little, you only have one life and it is for living as my cardiologist says....
Cheers FM, snd sorry I haven’t been more active on here recently, I’d have replied to some of your posts which are always positive and upbeat. Your reply to me made me feel good!
You sound like you are doing well, keep going mate, and keep in touch.
I’ve always lived life to the full, always exercised 5/6 times a week, eat & drink what I want, but generally healthy diet, with Pizza/Macdonalds thrown in.
After my SCA I got myself bogged down with all the talk of brown rice, whole grain this, low fat that!
Similar to you, my cardiologist said to for get all that and stick with my old diet with a bit more emphasis on more healthy less rubbish, BUT as he said, if you fancy a pizza or Mac once a week then just enjoy it.
Bear in mind I am slim/muscular build, otherwise his advice would be quite different.
I pretty much stopped chocolate & sweets, just occasional treats rather than daily essentials. Stopped alcohol, again occasionally have a few (1 or 3), like every few months if I fancy it.
Good points which I am sure around 80% of us have had to confront.
So in my opinion it's a case of do you want to live to 80 with what you have !! Wife, Children, Grandchildren or are you prepared to go at say 70 and be Happy, and that you have contributed to everyone around you being Happy as well.
It is such a difficult dilemma but it is your dilemma which again is very difficult to share. Not to be a killjoy but you could have a couple of years being miserable and possibly making people around you miserable because you are, and then dropping dead with something else. My Heart Nurse has said to me there is every chance something else will get you before the Heart Failure does !! It boils down to your choice sorry, God a Crystal Ball would be handy right now LOL
Not a lot of help but interesting to hear other peoples take on what would be the best way forward.
Like you I was 68 when I had my Aortic valve replaced and bypass again like you mammary gland was harvested.
I am 4 years on, 5 weeks after my surgery my husband had a stroke and I became his carer, so looking after my heart is for both of us. Having said that you can’t live a life without some treats, or what’s the point.
The thing is treats mean occasionally not daily, we watch our weight we take our medication and we exercise making sure our heart gets a work out as they kept saying at cardio rehab use it it lose it! After all our heart is a muscle.
You have seen there is a little problem so can put it right. Great that your recovery is going well, we have been given a gift so we make the most of our second chance.
It’s very easy to drop back to old habits. Maybe you could compromise and be good all week and just indulge a little bit at weekends. Balance if we can .....
Hi there Telboi. I was diagnosed with severe heart valve disease August 2020 which will require surgery at some point. The fear caused me to shut down everything I enjoyed in my life and I morphed into a different person (not in a positive way). You see all the things I loved in life involved food and particularly sweet treats and I cut it all out over night which resulted in serious depression for me. Seeing me in that state had a worse impact on my family than the actual heart problem! I lost 2 stone (was only 10 stone to start with) and I looked awful and felt like someone else. The doctor swiftly told me to snap out of this behaviour and to allow myself EVERYTHING I wanted only at a slower pace and with a mindful attitude. This made sense to me as I used to eat everything without thought. I’m a much happier person now, with the same heart issues, only I now value all of my occasional treats including Chinese food, pizza and a wee glass at the weekend! As others have said moderation really is the key and this is what I’ve learned .....and that I can live with! I wish you well😀
A lot of the comments here suggest there's a trade off between living the life you want to live and dying a bit sooner, or following a less attractive life style and living longer.
But I believe this is a false choice. Let me explain why.
We all know that life expectancy is increasing. What isn't as widely understood is that unfortunately HEALTHY life expectancy hasn't been increasing nearly as much. Basically people are living longer, but with more years of sickness and ill health at the end. Understanding what those years of sickness and ill health actually mean makes for grim reading. It's often disabling strokes for example that leave people wheel chair bound or unable to speak, or it's Type 2 Diabetes leading to blindness or amputated feet.
The really sobering thing is that it's us on this forum who are at the very highest risk of ending up like this.
The bottom line is that I haven't stopped take-aways and beer in the hope of scratching out a year or two of extra life. I've done those things, and many other life style changes besides, in order to get more HEALTHY years.
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