I'm back

I haven't been doing a very good job of updating this blog. I struggle with what to write. The whole weight loss thing so far has sucked. I guess that is not entirely true. I've been doing a much better job of working out. I'm working out with a trainer and have been pretty good about going 3 times per week. I'm feeling stronger and my endurance level is increasing. I'm frustrated because the scale is not really moving. My eating has not been horrible but it definitely needs improvement espicially after this weekend! I'm back on track starting today. I think I really need to start limiting my carbs. They are a huge weakness for me and I gravitate toward them. I could eat bread all day long!

I'm trying to get in shape for a number of reasons. The main reason being my heart health. I want to improve my EF (ejection fraction). I don't know if this is even possible because it seems to have leveled off but it is my goal to try. I also want to get in shape because I am walking in the Breast Cancer 3-Day this year. This will be my 5th year participating in the event but only the 2nd time I have walked. I will be walkng 60 miles over the course of 3-Days in August in Minnesota. It could be brutually hot. I was not physically prepared the first year I walked but I did it anyway. This year I want to be more physically ready. I'm making pretty good progress so far. I can feel that my endurance level is increasing so that is good.

Not much new on the heart front. I have had no shocks from my ICD. I'm due for an interrogation in about a month so we will see if the old ICD and heart has been up to anything since March. I'm hoping for a clear reading like last time. Overall I feel pretty good.

Interrogation today

So I had my 3 month interrogation today at the heart clinic. I am happy to report that all went well. I had no significant events in the last 90 days. Since I have had my ICD the only thing that has registered is 1 episode of VT about 2 weeks after I had surgery. My ICD fired up but did not shock me as the episode didn't last very long. Other than that everything has been excellent. Let's hope it continues this way!

I'm off to Maui on Sunday for 2 weeks so I likely won't post before then. Once I get back I need to get back to focusing on this weight loss thing.

No heart study for me

My last entry talked about the heart study that I was potentially going to be participating in but
as of yesterday I am officially not going to participate. I had an annual appointment with my cardiologist and we talked about the study. He is very against it. He stated that if I was a member of his family he would strongly suggest that I not do it. He also stated that I am doing pretty well with my medications and he did not think that it would benefit me so I pulled out. I'm ok with this decision. The thought of having surgery for an experimental device was not really thrilling me. I realize I could have gotten into the non-surgery group but why waste everyones times doing all of the extensive testing.

I'm doing as well as can be expected with my medication therapy. I also have the ICD so the cardiologist thinks that things are going very well. I have not had any significants with my device so that is also good. I am approaching the one year anniversay of the implantation (2/14) and so far so good.

Now back to getting the weight off!

Heart Study

So I found out about this heart study on the radio. It is for people with CHF. Since I have CHF I thought I would check it out. I went to the website to see what it was all about and it showed the device that is being tested. You can check it out here. I didn’t get a whole lot of information from the website so I called the number not expecting much. To my amazement I made it past the first round of questions. I was now being referred on to the actual clinic conducting the study for further questioning. I answered more questions on the phone and was still in the running. I was invited down to the clinic for even more questions and to find out more about the study. It’s pretty interesting. Basically there are 2 groups, one group gets the device and once group stays as is with just medication. You don’t find out what group you are in until you finish all of the testing. If I end up in the device group I will have surgery to have the device put in and then will be closely monitored every 3 months for the first year and then yearly until the device is approved by the FDA. If I end up in the medication group I do nothing differently then I do now except get monitor every 3 months for the first year.

So where I am at with the study? Well, basically I am moving on for further testing. There are a lot of physical and medical test that need to be completed before you are officially approved to be in the study. My first test is Friday January 23rd. It’s a walking test. They monitor how far you can walk and for how long. If I pass that test I move on the next round. Sounds like a game show doesn’t it?

I will keep you posted. I am sure I missed some stuff in here but if you have any questions please ask and I will answer them to the best of my ability.

New Post Coming Soon

I hope to be updating this blog soon. Lots of things have happened in recent weeks that have caused me to not be around including no more blogspot access at work.

I'm working on a couple of things for the near future. One is an update on a heart study that I may be a part of and another is my "resolutions" for the new year. Stay tuned. More to come.

Frustration

I haven't posted here for a while because I am extremely frustrated with this whole weight loss thing. The scale is not moving.

I'm on a message board for people who have ICD's and recently found a post dedicated to weight loss frustration because of medication. I long suspected that my heart meds were affecting my weight loss but I never really read up on it. Now it has been confirmed for me that taking beta-blockers (the main med I take for my heart condition) basically kills your metabolism. It's my own fault for not reading up on it sooner. But it also strikes me as weird that it was not pointed out to me in my numerous appointments at the heart clinic. I even commented to the nurse practioner in one visit about my weight gain and inability to lose weight. Her response was that some people experience depression after a diagnosis and that is why they gain weight. I think that would have been the perfect opportunity to talk with me about the side effects of a beta blocker. It's all just so damn frustrating.

I'm still working out but not as much as a I should be. This time of the year is so hectic it has made things difficult. I will keep plugging away at it.

I'm back

I guess I have been on a posting hiatus lately. I've really been struggling with this weight loss stuff and I guess I just buried my head in the sand and chose not to write about it. I had a really bad week about 2 weeks ago. I think I was up about 5lbs. Last week I lost about 3 of that and this week I lost another 1lb. So overall I am still up but I think I am starting to get back on track.

My sweet tooth has been out of control and I could not stop indulging. Life and general stress has been getting in the way also. I'm starting to realize just how strongly stress effects my eating patterns. I always knew that I was a stress eater but it has really become apparent these past few weeks.

Still working on getting in water and more fruits and veggies. I'm also trying to eat more frequently. I am also trying to follow the principles of the DASH diet which is a diet plan for people trying to lower their blood pressure. I think it is a good plan overall for heart patients.

I've been battling some extreme tiredness also. I think it is a combination of not sleeping through the night and possibly from one of my meds. One of the medications that I take for my heart condition is known for causing fatique and I take a pretty high dose so I really do think that this is a contributing factor. I have made a note to talk to my cardiologist about this at my next appointment.

I am also looking into the possibility of participating in a heart study but I will save that for another post. That's it for now.