http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6?format=rss Tribe.net. Local Connections http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#45b361c9-b0db-43bc-a2ad-9c3cad83f0d4 Great message Michael. That is cool about Mexico. How was the trip? Is that pic of you recent? Where did you go in Mexico? I am glad you are becoming healthy and take care. 5 more weeks till my baby will be here! we are excited and blessed too! Lisa Thu, 26 Oct 2006 15:17:13 GMT http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#45b361c9-b0db-43bc-a2ad-9c3cad83f0d4 Lisa 2006-10-26T15:17:13Z http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#547d1a42-0cf5-4cfd-9067-0383e11077bd A lot of emotion, uncertainty and confusion have flooded me over the past few days. I’ve slipped a bit in my “new habits” and now I find myself asking a lot of questions. Not so much why did this happen to me but why am I still here when I see so many others taken out completely by this. I lost a very good friend of mine a few months back from a massive heart attack; he was 43 and in much better shape then myself. He left behind 2 kids and a wife. His wife has been very supportive to both Kath and I but I wonder why he was taken and I’m still here. Of course then I ask myself who am I to question God and why these happen at all. My doctors tell me that this is all natural and is a result of what happened to me but these feelings just flat out make me sick. These life changing events really do make you think a lot about eternity. I think about death a lot now, not in a fearful way but in an almost curious endearing way. Don’t get me wrong, I am not looking forward to life’s finality but for the first time I’ve realized that it’s going to happen, sooner or later. I think about it now, sometimes it’s as though I feel it, watching me…saying to me – “Listen here Partner, I gave you a second shot, don’t fuck it up” I agree with that and I am going to get back on track again. I am going to get out of this emotional funk. Spiritually, I am growing, physically; I am shrinking which is a good thing. My doctor last week cleared me to start scuba diving again which is awesome being that in less then a month I will be in Mexico and Plavix just went generic (heart medication is expensive). Right now as I look to my left I can see my refrigerator which is covered with pictures of the people that mean the most to me: my children, my wife, my brother David, my sister in law Becky, and assorted friends and I am grateful to have each of these people in my life. I am also very grateful for those of you who I have met here on tribe who have been so supportive, even before all of this happened and I realize just how blessed I really am. So many of you have touched my life in such a positive way and I thank you so much for that. Wed, 13 Sep 2006 07:05:10 GMT http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#547d1a42-0cf5-4cfd-9067-0383e11077bd Michael 2006-09-13T07:05:10Z http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#14e1353a-ee38-4aef-b616-b7a0f0f523c9 Michael, I am so glad you are better and I am sorry I am just reading this. I have been sooo busy with the pregnancy. I am now almost 6 months into it. I had to make some changes for the baby too and I can relate to the changes in diet and exercise. I quit caffeine and of course all alchohol. Caffeine was the hardest and i have found that I feel healthier. the pregnancy is taking my energy, but i know my body is detoxed all the bad stuff and I feel great! I would love for you to share your healthy recipes and I am so glad you are o.k. My uncle recently died of a heart attack and it is very sad. He was 47 years old. I do believe that you need to be in a less stress free work environment. Life is way too short to live unhappy. Less sometimes is better with material things. God Bless you! Lisa Thu, 24 Aug 2006 18:05:45 GMT http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#14e1353a-ee38-4aef-b616-b7a0f0f523c9 Lisa 2006-08-24T18:05:45Z http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#49dfb6a8-e563-42e6-9f07-514cf4c69378 Awesome Michael. Stress is OK in life. We can handle it. Being overstressed and not paying attention to it and eliminating the cause...is a killer. Meditation is a super way to dig INTO those dark areas and get complete with them. Love your new ways of being. aho...and enjoy the new YUMMY food... Sun, 20 Aug 2006 09:19:05 GMT http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#49dfb6a8-e563-42e6-9f07-514cf4c69378 Jaguar Faerie 2006-08-20T09:19:05Z http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#8ed59048-30d4-4ac0-a7a2-0ca7a080a28e I go back to work on Monday after being off since Aug. 3rd. I’ve spoken with them a couple of times about the things that the Doctors are allowing and not allowing me to do. So far they have been great. I’ve noticed something that although I knew existed before, didn’t hold the same level of concern in my mind that it does now. Stress. Although I’ve got to learn to better deal with stress, I’ve also got to eliminate as much of it as possible in my life. If I am feeling stress just by speaking with my current employer I can only imagine what it is going to feel like when I return. I know that I was exposed to it prior to my heart problems but I just never put 2 and 2 together. I met with a previous employer the other day over lunch and we discussed the options of returning to a former position I once held. It was a job that I absolutely loved and it is also the job I left for my current one for the sole purpose of a bigger pay check. I will do the absolute best that I can do while I am still with my current employer; however the plan is to return to my previous employer and a much simpler way of life. On the health front, I’m doing great not smoking. I’d be lying if I said that desire isn’t there because it is, I just don’t know if it is physical or mental. The more I do, be it walk, ride my bike, or even read the less I think about it the easier it becomes. I’m also in the process of learning a lot of new heart healthy recipes. I haven’t quite figured it all out yet but it seems to be coming together nicely and Kath and the kids have been very helpful in keeping me on track. Sun, 20 Aug 2006 07:14:11 GMT http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#8ed59048-30d4-4ac0-a7a2-0ca7a080a28e Michael 2006-08-20T07:14:11Z http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#c968e484-60db-47a1-bf3e-8fe98fb50068 sorry about my mistakes. I just finished a 17 hr day zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sat, 12 Aug 2006 10:19:10 GMT http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#c968e484-60db-47a1-bf3e-8fe98fb50068 Jaguar Faerie 2006-08-12T10:19:10Z http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#f272f6f4-d412-4f04-8d0d-a7f5438a96a9 g'day Michael, It is soooo awesome to feel how enrolled you are in taking charge of your healing. Patience Grasshopper, it took a lifetime to get you to this point. Do not set yourself up for failure by wexpecting too much too soon. Baby steps. Look at what you are achieving, practically overnight. A really great book to have in your NEW library is Heal wth Whole Foods, Oriential Traditions and Modern Nutrition by Paul Pitchford. ISBN 1-55643-220-8. It is an excellent resource. With your new way of eating, exercise, and quitting smoking, you are becoming a new vibrant , healthy being. Cadio water exercising is a fun addition to you exercize regimen - gets the job done and feels great on ya body. Looking forward to reading more of your progress. namaste Sat, 12 Aug 2006 10:17:37 GMT http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#f272f6f4-d412-4f04-8d0d-a7f5438a96a9 Jaguar Faerie 2006-08-12T10:17:37Z http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#1a9841e6-66cc-439c-9083-19573ecd2ba2 Ra & Jag, thank you for your kind words. In my case it wasn't hard for me to do the right thing; it just wasn't top of mind. I knew everything I was doing was not healthy but it didn't matter because I was invincible and time was on my side. Or at least I thought so. I start Cardiac Rehab on Monday the 21st and in the meantime I am only allowed 10 minutes of moderate exercise a day, adding 1 minute every day. I am currently up to 15 minutes. Exercise currently only entails brief walks around the block and a couple times up and down the stairs to the basement. I am amazed already at the difference in my ability to just breathe normally. The hard part of quitting smoking is behind me...it's all mental at this point. My biggest struggle at this point is food. I love food and I love to prepare food and I am quite good at it as well. However I now find myself having to learn to cook all over again, learn about new preparation techniques, change my shopping habits and define for myself what my relationship with food is going to be. I am going this afternoon to the used bookstore to pick up The Food Revolution by John Robbins (thanks for the heads-up Jaguar Goddess) and also the American Heart Association cookbook. Overall, I feel really good; I just need to work on my patience. Fri, 11 Aug 2006 15:30:19 GMT http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#1a9841e6-66cc-439c-9083-19573ecd2ba2 Michael 2006-08-11T15:30:19Z http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#6578b9da-e029-4e83-aa6f-ecbe3ab015be I share your joy at having recovered the trauma to you being, Michael. I salute you on your shift in being, your listening, your decision to take charge of your health and happiness. May I suggest a piece of reading, The Food Revolution by John Robbins. Thank you for sharing, Michael. Hope you are feeling more comfortable. Welcome to your new, wondrous world of being. It is a blast here. Exercise and good good can be fun and yummy. Breaking old habits is the tough stuff. namaste.... Wed, 09 Aug 2006 19:49:24 GMT http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#6578b9da-e029-4e83-aa6f-ecbe3ab015be Jaguar Faerie 2006-08-09T19:49:24Z http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#db20f393-c827-4a81-89db-5891cc2664d7 Holy geez, Michael... what to say! 1. I am *so* glad you are here still and 2. that you are sharing your story with us and 3. that you have taken immediate action... It could happen to any of us and will happen to many. I swear I am also a prime candidate for something... it seems the older I get the worse my bad habits become! I dunno, really, the difference between the day to day activities of my life compared to yours, but I most definitely have some suspect activities going on, chiefly: -exhaustion -not eating well or enough, even. i don't eat tonnes of junk food but i dont' eat optimally either -ignoring or only mildly dealing with chronic pain issues -i do walk alot, and ride my bike to work when i work at the workplace close to me but i'm sure more exercise is in order -i may go deaf from djing if i am not careful what is it that makes it so hard for us to do things right? thank goddess that this happened to you but you made it out alive, it could just be nature's way of giving you a *massive* wake up call, now you will be on the road to healthy. please keep sharing your journey with us so we can be inspired and reminded that we need to all be on that journey together... in so many ways. because we dreamers and schemers need time to do all those things we plan to do... sending love, michael... be well. Wed, 09 Aug 2006 05:54:07 GMT http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#db20f393-c827-4a81-89db-5891cc2664d7 ra 2006-08-09T05:54:07Z http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#c61e9253-1273-48e9-b73b-777706dfda9c My new friends in Cardiac Rehab at Mercy Medical in Des Moines tell me that at this point it is all up to me. “We’ve done our jobs, what happens now is up to you?” Of course it always was up to me. Phillip Morris didn’t force me to smoke, McDonalds didn’t force double cheeseburgers down my throat, and La-Z-Boy didn’t tie me down to their recliners while I should have been outside pursuing other activities. I was where I was because of the decisions that I made. Truth be told I always knew that my lifestyle, in terms of how I took care of my body, was suspect but I also ALWAYS thought that I had more time. I’ll start that new workout regimen next week…I’ll stop smoking as soon as I polish off this carton...I’m too tired to make dinner, besides nothing is thawed so I’ll just swing by and pick up some KFC with all the fixins’ tonight…I’ll do better tomorrow. Well now I have to do better, my time has run out. No more as soon as this or that happens, it happened, on7/31 in the form of what was diagnosed as gas and on 8/3 in the form of a heart attack. 7/31 was also a heart attack only not as severe. Classic systems, chest pains building into arm pain that started in the shoulders and then moved down the back, dizziness and loss of strength. I told the urgent care doctor on 7/31 that it really feels like I just need to burp. They gave an EKG, diagnosed that it was gas, gave a couple of bottles of Nexium and sent me on my way. Tests available today, among them troponin blood tests and electrocardiograms, or EKGs, often don't detect heart attacks until hours after they have occurred. When we reached the hospital on 8/3 the same symptoms that I had experienced on Monday, only much more severe today had passed so I had time to enjoy a cigarette prior to entering the emergency room. Actually I lit up before the pain had subsided. After the RN chided me for not calling 911 and making my wife drive me to the emergency room the doctors came in took some blood and then rushed me off to x-ray. I’ll tell you what, you mention chest pain in the ER, it’s like mentioning the word bomb at the airport…your going to get A LOT of attention, real quick. Yep, the blood test confirmed it; I showed an increased level of creatine kinase. Not only had I suffered a heart attack prior to arriving that day, the increased levels suggested that I also had a heart attack earlier… A small fraction of the CK enzyme, CK-MB, is often measured as well. CK-MB shows an increase above normal in a person's blood test about six hours after the start of a heart attack. It reaches its peak level in about 18 hours and returns to normal in 24 to 36 hours. The peak level and the return to normal can be delayed in a person who's had a large heart attack, especially if they don't get early and aggressive treatment. I looked at Kathy and mouthed the words “Son of a Bitch” I knew immediately that my life was about to undergo massive changes. An angiogram later I was being wheeled down the hall for the first of my 2 angioplasty procedures. Yep, 2 days worth and I have the bruises to prove it. I was only in the hospital for 96 hours but it felt like prison or maybe more like a scared straight program. I was told, shown and otherwise impressed upon about how the decisions I made starting right then and there would shape whatever I time I had left on this planet. I haven’t smoked for 192 hours, and I’ve only been eating and drinking what is “heart healthy” This is no doubt going to be one hell of a journey but I focused and determined to make it work. There is still way too much that I want to get done before I call it quits. Wed, 09 Aug 2006 05:06:04 GMT http://livingtodo.tribe.net/thread/368d1ba7-47d4-43b9-a6b3-6eeb9d07cfe6#c61e9253-1273-48e9-b73b-777706dfda9c Michael 2006-08-09T05:06:04Z