Big Changes Coming, Maybe

[warren]

Thanks! Thanks to all for the good thoughts and anecdotes.
I'm a bit of a hedonist. My choices are usually based on what's fun. That, a bit of a rebellious nature and I'm more than a little bit passive-aggressive when told what to do. Doctors happily pass me off to other practitioners where possible.
I'm hoping to curb that attitude a bit, listen closely and make considered decisions. As my daughter said, "Lots of luck with that."

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

As someone who recently lost his father at the beginning of the month (he was born in '48) I say do what you must do to live a longer life and give your friends and family more time enjoy their lives with you. I would give anything to be able to spend just one more quality hour to have a conversation with my dad. Do what you must to improve your health, Warren. Time is very very precious.

 

[mikethompson]

Warren all the best for you sir, whatever you and your family decide. If that decision is to walk away from the pipe, remember that you can still enjoy the camaraderie that the pipe brings.

 

[framitz]

Warren I have had chef since 2002 li st3n to doc. Change diet lo w salt smoke pipes. Till I brok,e hips was active pm me shel

 

[thomasw]

Hey Warren, I hope you can make a few simple alterations and stick around for a lot longer; I like your matter-of-fact logical responses and I wouldn't want that to go away. Perhaps all it will take is some medicine, use of a calorie counter (like myfitnesspal on your phone) and just walking for a hour or so everyday. I wish you joy and better health!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Damn Warren, I hate to hear this. Hopefully, your daughter is involved with all of the medical stuff too. Listen to your kids. They will want the best for you also, and I hate to say it, but we men need a little direction (or I do). I may bawk, argue, buck, and spit, but in the end I listen to the women in my life. For some damn reason, they want us around, and that makes it just weird enough for us to listen to them.

But, bawk, grumble, and spit a lot. It makes us feel better about all of the compromises.
I really hope whatever your decisions are that we see you on here, or keep in touch, for a long long time.

 

[menuhin]

All the best for the health challenges. My advice would be get some scheduled workout every day - exercise is perhaps the best ever medicine of the 45 minutes to an hour exercise can be replaced by a tablet of medicine or supplement at all. A more drastic change can also be cutting all the animal protein intake except from fish and marine animals, i.e. go vegetarian plus fish / Pescetarian. Doing these persistently for 6 months usually give people obvious results.
I became a vegetarian not because of health reason and I still dreamt about the good taste of meat sometimes - so good enjoyable lifestyle is not behind the major driving force of my life decisions, and I am not the best person to tell lifestyle or long healthy life is more important. My observation is that, longer healthy life with good social circles is >99% good life, with the observation that quite some stroke patients in their last 15-20 years from getting around to their most basic daily routines had to be assisted by nurses and some other people.

 

[brian64]

Sorry to hear this...may you find the best path forward in dealing with it, and I hope it goes as well as possible for you.

 

[cortezattic]

I haven't a clue as to what the best advice is. But I think that those changes you choose to make, and stick to, is about all you can do. My thoughts and prayers go out to you, wishing for the best.

 

[philobeddoe]

Warren, sorry to hear about you ailments. Like the others have said, small changes can make a big difference, I’ve been practicing yoga for the past year and a half and I can definitely feel a difference in my overall well being, I feel more limber, more calm and I know it has helped to lower my blood pressure, in conjunction with meditation, I know it sounds corny, but it works. Nothing spiritual or new aged, just calming meditation, it really works wonders. And I’m not at all convinced that stopping moderate pipe smoking, without inhaling or retrohaling or snorking etc. is necessarily healthier for your heart. The calming effects of moderate pipe smoking outweighs the negative effects in my opinion/study. No, I’m not a physician, but the knee-jerk reaction of so many doctors to just stop all tobacco use is misguided at best.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I became a vegetarian not because of health reason...

Might you say why, then?
And meat protein alone isn't a problem unless taken to extremes, is it??

 

[warren]

Thanks to everyone of you for the kind thoughts.
I'm leaning to making whatever civilized changes the docs suggest. It's winter here and I tend to become fairly sedentary. Not a good thing, of course. In the Spring I get into better shape, hiking and chasing the moose and other critters. If the doctor can get me feeling less like a whipped puppy I'll buy into most any suggestions.
It's going to be an interesting couple of months I'm sure. Looking forward to the experience. My cardiologist is now mostly retired and extremely competent. He did a friend's bypass 20 years ago. Art, my friend, accepted the basic routines prescribed and is now 80. I talked to him the other day as he was shoveling snow in front of his office. Just seeing that perked me right up.
I'm at least gonna hang around until I reach 6,000 posts. Gotta keep a reasonable goal in mid I guess.

 

[dmcmtk]

A layperson's POV. You have certainly had blood tests, were any suggestions made about supplementation to increase your blood health? Hemoglobin count? I know it's a complex subject, but blood health can be a good place to start.

 

[warren]

Blood was sucked a day ago. I'll be discussing the results Monday with the cardiologist. Right now I only have a small part of the larger picture, an enlarged heart that is also congested. Fixing what can be fixed starts Monday. I'm fairly sanguine about the outcome of the situation right now.

 

[jvnshr]

Warren, I am sorry to hear that. My dad always says that eat meat and live like an eagle for 30 years rather than eating shit and living like a crow for 300 years (in some cultures crows are thought to live for 300 years, which is a myth of course). My dad (born in 1955) is not a smoker, but he drinks a lot. We were concerned about his health a lot and last year we managed to convince him to go for a full check-up. I have been with him throughout the whole process and I realized that there were 2 main reasons for not being healthy. The 1st one is excessive cigarette smoking (which kills your lungs thus less oxygen is carried to your blood) and the 2nd one is not exercising. My father has never been to a gym but he is always on the move. The guy just can't sit for a single minute. Every single doctor we have visited was very surprised to hear that he wasn't doing any workouts, but he was in an amazing condition. The answer was "because of not smoking cigarettes". All the beers, vodkas, whiskeys he has had, had almost no effect on his health.

You are one lucky guy Warren, I know lots of people who get similar health concerns in their 40s/50s. Even in my case, being at age of 31, I am starting to wonder about my lifestyle and planning to make some changes in a very near future. I wish all the best for you, sir.

 

[brightleaf]

Going to doctors has one guaranteed result. You are much poorer for it. If the doctor is making you feel down on your health, save your money. Personally, I would rather die than live in fear of death in a nursing home, or being sapped of all resources by expensive out-patient care. I would assume you know what makes you feel better without having to pay someone else to tell you what that is. If you can afford stints and advanced procedures that could help, go for it. I think your considerations should be about more than how to prolong your life. As others have said, it is hard to watch a loved continually decline in health, they would much rather remember them before extreme medical interventions prolonged their existence. Being faced with mortality is a good reminder to spend your remaining time in a quality way. Good luck finding what is most important to you, I would recommend choosing to invest your time, money and energy in those endeavors.

 

[deathmetal]

Good luck, Warren. We are all hoping for the best possible outcome here.

 

[warren]

I'm not out that much cash. It's the people paying into the various government medical programs who are out the moneys. Then there is my retirement plan's insurance. Hell, I hardly have to open my wallet! Gotta love the working stiffs. They keep Social Security's and Medicare's nose barely above water. Thanks to all who contribute my comfort in my old age. Hope someone does the same for you folks in the coming years. And, you must plan for the various catastrophes of old age, decent homecare ain't cheap. I'm not there yet, hopefully never, but, it's in the bank and the kids won't have to subsidize it.

 

[indianafrank]

Warren, sorry to hear about your heart.
All I can say is 5 years ago 3 different Doctors gave me 3 different opinions. Two were bad news. The two told me to change this and change that. I said "no way." The only thing I did change was my attitude about Doctors, medication, tests, and my attitude about my health. I no longer worried about it. I stopped stressing about things. Guess what happened? Since then, without their meds, against their advise and pessimistic attitudes about changing this and that, my blood work has "miraculously" gotten better. It's perfect. They can't figure out why it's better. "OMG. This isn't normal. We've got to figure out what's wrong with Frank. There has to be a reason why he's doing better without our advise."
That's why they call the Doctoring profession..."practicing medicine".
I'm not saying that you should forget about what the Doc's are telling you. But what I am saying is this...attitude is everything.
I'm looking forward to reading many years of your comments.

 

[warren]

Thanks. I hope to get back to some reasonable level of activity fairly6 soon. It's not what the doctors say that bothers me. It's what my heart says when I try to be active. Hopefully meds and lifestyle adjustments will get me feeling better. Invasive surgery may be required. It's all very interesting though, this gradual shutting down of the body as parts wear out or weaken.