How Healthy are YOU?

Mike Lucey · 12 Feb 2009, 13:21

Hi Guys and Gals,

I have recently gone through some cardiac problems. I am fine now and on the mend with my new stents. While I knew that I was not as fit as I should be I thought the machinery was working okay, it wasn't as I found out last Saturday week. I spent a week in hospital. It was the first time I ever spend a day / night in hospital in my 58 years! It was not pleasant by any means BUT in a strange way I 'enjoyed' the experience as I decided at the offset I was going to learn from it. The care I received was excellent and I have to take my hat off the the nursing profession.

There are LOTS of things I want to do before I 'hang up my guns' and call it a day. I am now taking my health A LOT more seriously. Proper eating and exercise will get me the where I want / need to be over the next 30 plus years.

I attended my first Cardiac Rehab session this morning and listened carefully to Anne McNamara the Physiotherapist. I was amazed at all the things she told the group about our hearts. I started to realised that I knew far more about how my car works than I did about how my heart works and this is not the way things should be. We can get new cars reasonably easy but getting new hearts is a more difficult matter.

I'll get to my point! Most of us spend a lot of time sitting in front of screens for long periods of time each day. This is necessary for us to do our jobs and we can do little to avoid this situation.

I feel we can however learn of ways and implement them to lessen the impact that this life / work style has on our hearts and bodies. This even applies to the young people here as the damage builds up over the years.

I would like to start a new thread, lets call it SketchUhealth and make it a sticky! I would hope that we could share health tips that work for us as individuals and maybe encourage others to take better care of themselves. I will start this over the next week but would like to hear any thoughts you may have on the matter first.

Mike

solo · 12 Feb 2009, 13:37

Hope all is well with you Mayor.

I also need to get out and do some physical stuff besides walking down to the 711 for smokes.

Mike Lucey · 12 Feb 2009, 14:05

Thanks Pete, I am fine a bit sore after the separate angiogram and angioplast but getting back into form. Yep! the cigs are bad news. This can be a problem with many 'home office' workers like us as it is so easy to 'puff while we work'!

watkins · 12 Feb 2009, 14:30

Dear Mike,

Glad to hear that you are feeling better.

My first suggestion is a rather obvious one. Make exercise part of your daily routine. For example, I live 3 miles from where I work, and so I cycle in and out each day and at reasonably fast pace (my best time is around 12 minutes). When the weather is good I mix that with walking to work, which takes me between 45 and 50 minutes.

If you work from home then find a walking circuit of 2 to 3 miles and take an hour off to do a fast walk. This can also be a creative moment when you get stuck with design ideas.

This is just to help get this thread going.

Kind regards,
Bob

Mike Lucey · 12 Feb 2009, 14:50

Bob,

Your suggestion may look like an obvious suggestion BUT walking is, according the the experts, the BEST form of exercise and no special equipment is needed!

I have now started on regular walks with by little buddie, Jock (Westie), as he keeps me amused along the way. Walking a dog is also a great way of meeting and chatting to people as dogs can often be a common interest and Jock helps out here as he is a great little charmer!

solo · 12 Feb 2009, 14:54

Hmmm, I live in Dallas, walking may help the heart but dying of heat stroke would be the result.

...and that's why they invented the treadmill, airconditioning, and the remote control....I can do this.

david_h · 12 Feb 2009, 15:38

I turn the big 50 this summer. Ugh. Although I am not as slavish to this whole base-10 ideology. . .numbers ending in 5 or 10 as the most important. I am much more into prime numbers. but i digress. I feel pretty good. I have lost some weight, I walk 4 miles a day at the gym along with weights and ab crunchies, etc. I am eating a Lo-fat straberry yogurt and apple as we speak. Things are good. I still look like Dilbert, but my cholesterol is good.

Mike Lucey · 12 Feb 2009, 16:04

Pete, I have the ideal solution for you! I will post it on a separate thread or maybe on the SketchUhealth Sub Forum later this evening if we can get it going. There seems to be some interest in this topic.

David, Keep up the good work, it will stand to you as time goes on. BUT I suggest that you still check out the cholesterol levels at least every 3 months. This is the thing from my reading of it that causes all the problems. I wonder if there are any GOOD (certified) Cholesterol Checkers available on the Net?

boofredlay · 12 Feb 2009, 16:19

Mike, I am sorry to hear of your health woes but glad to hear it was a wake up call rather than an annoyance. You may be able to revise the Fit Club after all.

Since we have a new member of our family, walking daily has been a must.
Sadie is half Cocker Spaniel, half Dachshund and half CAFFEINE!

I am also fortunate to work a block away from a YMCA. I am on the Fitlinxx program and lift weights at least twice a week. I have lost 15 pounds since Jan 1st and vow not to weigh over 200 pounds when I turn 40 in July.

I have always been interested in a stand up workstation. It sure would help with my posture but standing all day... My wife is a teacher and is on her feet all day, she says to suck it up

Papercutter · 12 Feb 2009, 17:14

I haven't been around here in months (and even then posted sporadically at best), but I wish you the best, Mike! I've dropped 103 lbs in the last 13 months, and it's been a phenomenal change.

Dave M

solo · 12 Feb 2009, 17:24

Wow!! Dave.

Excellent!

What's your secret?

Papercutter · 12 Feb 2009, 17:46

It started with Weight Watchers. Then I got laid off in July and went out on my own, so my time is split- 60% in the office, 40% in the field working with crews. So I've got the Weight Watchers, the increased activity, and a minimum of 3 days a week in the gym, all helping to take it off. My GERD is gone, my slipped discs don't bug me nearly as much, and my cholesterol is down to 165, resting BP 108/52... Heart disease runs in the family, so it was no mystery that I needed a change.

BTW, I used to post as Dave M. I forgot my password and was having issues retrieving it, so... this is me. Now that I'm using SU more again, I figured I should see what's happening around here.

hebrides · 12 Feb 2009, 17:52

It is a proven fact that the less you eat, the longer you will live. So if you really like eating, look at it this way. The less you eat, the longer you will be around to eat.

As many have mentioned, exercise has to be part of your daily routine.

Get your vitamin "D". Sit in the sun, without sunblock on! Your body apparently needs one full hour a day with 40 percent of your skin exposed just to get a daily dose of D. That is quite a lot of sun. If you are a male, you can get natural radiation one day at a time rather than a bombardment of it (pegan radiation treatment, technology from the 50's) later as a remedy for cancer.

Stay away completely from food additives, i.e. preservatives, fake sugars or salts, fat free products, colors. Avoid eating anything in a can, sealed bag or box. Cook for yourself as often as you can. Everytime you have a stranger prepare food for you you are taking a chance.

Good luck trying to arrange all of the above and good luck with your routine Mike.

puck · 12 Feb 2009, 18:26

Glad to hear you're feeling better and on the mend. I have sympathy for you and trust me, I know how you're feeling. I had a bad motorbike crash when I was 21 (29 now) which tore part of my aorta leaving me with a bit of an emergency. I had major heart surgery to repair it through my back (they tell me it's the best way to get in!). Involves a cut from the top of your left shoulder all the way around under your left nipple before they separate your ribs take your left lung out, fix the hole in your heart, lung back in, then lots of staples...............Quite simple really!

I had never felt terror like it before......actually feeling like my life was going to end when I was 21.........and it nearly did. The support staff and nurses in the hospital in Leicster (UK) are simply amazing and made my recovery all the better.

It does make you sit up and think about life though for sure. I wouldn't change it though. It's made me a better person and I don't regret a moment of it. I think I'd be a very different person for the worst if it hadn't happened to me.

I do hope you find a bit of yourself you didn't know was there before........I know I did.

All the best, and good luck with everything.

Puck

boofredlay · 12 Feb 2009, 19:47

@papercutter said:

BTW, I used to post as Dave M. I forgot my password and was having issues retrieving it, so... this is me. Now that I'm using SU more again, I figured I should see what's happening around here.

Dave, I will let Gaieus know. He should be able to get you into your old account then merge these posts.

Welcome back.

Gaieus · 12 Feb 2009, 19:59

@papercutter said:

...BTW, I used to post as Dave M. I forgot my password and was having issues retrieving it, so... this is me. Now that I'm using SU more again, I figured I should see what's happening around here.

Hi Dave,

Why don't you tell? See my signature here (and now your Private Message inbox).
(Sorry for being OT)

tomasz · 12 Feb 2009, 20:16

I had a quite long conversation with Mike few days ago and he didn't even mentioned, that he has spent whole week in the hospital! Mike I wouldn't keep you that long
I hope you are getting well and take your time.

I have a problem with my sight being really tired when sitting and looking at a monitor almost all day. At work I had a small program called Reflection (I will try to find a link) that was reminding me every 45 mins to turn my eyes away from the screen and look at some distant object for a few minutes.

Computer can be very addictive, as you all know

Tomasz

Mike Lucey · 12 Feb 2009, 20:36

Good to have you back Dave and well done on what you have achieved. I'm sure Csaba will be able to sort out your old name

Hebrides, that sound advice. At present I'm taking 5 tablets a day. I have never had to do this before except for the odd aspirin or spoon of cough medicine. I've started looking up natural herbal remedies and find that there is a lot out there. It seems that a clove of garlic a day can go a long way in keeping bad Cholesterol down. Nettles also look to be good for blood cleansing. I will continue my course of tablets but where possible I will try to reduce and replace them with herbal remedies.

Puck, Wow! you went through some ordeal. Mine was not that bad. I initially got a 'tightness' in the chest and thought it was just fatigue and indigestion. I wanted to go to bed and rest but Pauline (wife) dragged me into hospital.

The actual procedures were not that bad. The initial Angiogram was a little uncomfortable but not really painful. I was fully awake while they inserted the probe (through a vain in my groin) and looked around the heart. I was able to see what was going on also as there was a big screen beside the op table.

The second procedure, the Angioplast, was done two days later. This involved going back in and inserting the stents. This was more painful as they were entering a fresh wound. After the stents were inserted it was great chatting to the surgeon while looking at the before photo (still) and the live action screen showing the unblocked artery pumping blood around the lower left part of my heart. He was amused at my interest in the screens and ability to 'read' them but after I explained that I was into 3D stuff we both laughed. I'll stop laughing when I get his bill but I imagine he will continue

All in all it was not a terrible experience and anyone that was any doubts about the condition of their heart should go for a stress test. Blocked arteries can be opened with stents these days and they last for years provided one cuts down their bad cholesterol levels. I don't mean to sound gory but if this information encourages anyone that is having doubts it will be worth it.

Tomasz, that link would be very useful as eye strain is a no no. I think you can testify that I am recovering quickly We will talk soon also as I have some info that you will be interested in hearing about.

tomasz · 12 Feb 2009, 21:07

@mike lucey said:

.Tomasz, that link would be very useful as eye strain is a no no.

I have fund something more professional and free (Windows only ) http://www.eterlab.com/eyedefender/

@mike lucey said:

I think you can testify that I am recovering quickly

I won't swear as it was only a web conference

Mike Lucey · 12 Feb 2009, 21:19

Thanks Tomasz, hey it was a colour vid con! Ahh, I suppose you could not see that I had a drip plugged in

Pete! This http://www.trixter.net/xdream will solve your exercise needs! I found it today and as you know I love gadgets and I think its great idea. I have to yet study all the ins and outs but think in might be possible to race a friend over the Net! Now that would be a blast. Maybe even handicaps could be put in place. We could even organise some bookmaking (betting) We would have to heavily handicap Coen as he is a serious cyclist! Its fairly pricey but there again so are doctors bills!