Hello friends; hope all is well with all of you. Unfortunately i experienced a heart attack about a week ago Sunday March 6 around 1100pm or 1130pm but i am grateful to be alive and because i acted so quickly the cardiologist told me i avoided major damage to my heart and they expect me to have a 90% per cent recovery and lead a normal life.

Life really is a precious gift and it is fortunate to have another chance or more opportunities.

I definitely will be making some radical changes. I used to exercise on a regular basis had gotten up to 45 minutes on the treadmill jogging,lost 25 pounds then the flu season came a couple of years ago i got sick & stopped exercising.

I think 3 things lead to the heart attack.

1. Anger and or lack of stress management.

2. Poor dietary choices.

3. No exercise.

Well as i have told my cardiologist it is a matter of choice and i choose to make the right choices.

I cannot control the events that happen around me but i can control how i choose to respond to them and i will work on stress management. Dietary choices; gone are the days of a big bag of Lay's pototoe chips drowning in a dip of sour cream and green onion dip. Gone is butter pecan ice cream and eating many crackers with cream cheese.Gone are the juicy hamburgers loaded with mayonaisse. Gone is the pototoe salad drowning in mayonaise as well as the cakes,cookies and pies.

I will exercise on a regular basis and i choose to eat healthy good foods that are good for the heart and body.

Some medicines i will now take for the rest of my life some medicines the doctors will eventually wean me off of.

Once again i am grateful to be alive and have the opportunity to be able to make some more choices in life and i wish all of you the very best that life has to offer.

Sincerly,
Photoread4me

Congratulations on your swift action and good recovery, and more so for your good choices.

You are perfection.
Iam2

Thank you Iam2
Photoread4me

I'm glad to know that you've managed to avoid major damage.

Be well

Alex

I'm glad you made a recovery mate.Take it easy eh and stay well, fellow photoreader!

quote:

---

Anger and or lack of stress management.

---

You never said what you're going to do to sort this out?

Maybe some people here have some good book recommendations.Anyone?

I'd say PR a ton of books on how to stay chilled and conquer stress.

Take care!

The Works is a good on for anger and stress management. See Loving What Is by Byron Katie.

Alex

I will be working with nurses, exercise physiologists, & dieticians for cardiac rehabilation. One of the major things they will address is stress management. I am sure i can learn a lot from that. I have a book Anger Kills by Doctors Redford Williams and Virginia Williams they related how anger creates such havoc in terms of high blood pressure and if left unchecked can lead to heart attacks, strokes etc. So i will be addressing these issues about keeping emotions under control during cardiac rehab as well as the health professionals monitoring different parts of my heart during exercise with an ekg to see how the different parts of the heart respond. Thank all of you for your goodwill and concern. All the best to you.
Photoread4me

You might consider Spring Forest
Qigong for both healing and
stress management. The meditations
alone would help you there.

Gianni

It's nice to see so many well wishers for you photoread4me.

I'm a strong advocate of SFQ, but it's not the only road to a healthier live. Although it is the one I've chosen.

LSC, has a large recommended reading list and many of them will help your with reducing stresses effect on your body.

Now the reason I'm adding another post. In you last message you commented on "keeping emotions under control". Emotions are not something you can control. I would suggest that you learn about yourself and your emotions and your relationship with them will evolve into a more healthy one.

It is important that the way you react to your emotions change. Most peoples automatic reactions to their emotions do not lead to the healthiest actions.

--- Interrupted Preaching --- Short summary (Hopefully) ---

Emotions are not bad. Become aware of all your emotions. Accept them. Look for the gift they hold. Use them for guidance.

You are perfection.
Iam2

Glad you're O.K.

It's good to hear you are okay.

People are making recommendations for your recovery, I'll throw in my 2 cents:

The Bible!!

[This message has been edited by bjd6520 (edited March 16, 2005).]

photoread4me...I am very glad to hear that you have "dodged a bullet" recently. Back in July (2004), I had 2 stents installed in my right coronary artery, so I have a sense of "where you're coming from".

Reading the posts here, I sense that there are people who wish you well, but haven't had the "epiphany" of a close brush with death, and those who have. As one of the latter, I would like to share with you my feelings on the subject (from a vantage point some 8 months removed from the "incident").

I notice that you have chosen a "radical change" from what you were doing before your heart attack. I would suggest that, unless you are comfortable with denying yourself everything that you enjoyed, that a more "relaxed" approah might be useful. I haven't changed my eating (or smoking) habits since last July, yet when I had a followup nuclear stress test a month ago, I was diagnosed as completely free from "blockage" of my arteries. I don't hold myself up as an example of "proper" reaction to this situation, but rather as an "alternative" one.

I took a blood thinner (Plavix) for 6 months, and I am told that I will have to take a hypertension medicine and a cholesterol-lowering medication until I croak, and I do so. The only "change" I have made is in my "reaction" to stressful situations...I generally "ask myself" if an "eruption" of emotion is "useful" (sometimes it is!). This "half-second" hesitation has proven (for me) to be a delightful way to avoid a lot of the conflict that I used to have in my life.

In summary, I would suggest that denying yourself all that makes life worth living is perhaps not (IMHO) the best way to go here. It should be noted that, in following the course outlined here, I've ignored the well-meaning and serious advice of my colleagues, friends and family. OTOH, I am nothing if not me.

Best wishes on a speedy and complete recovery,

Dale

Try the Deep Relaxation paraliminal. It's a great stress/anger reliever and the results are immediate. I frequently use it just before going to sleep. Anxiety-Free might help with the anger and Ideal Weight with the diet. The other recomendations are good, try them, but they take time to learn and practice.

It good to hear that you are O.K.

Wishing you a quick recovery and good health.

regards,

seeker