So, a few months ago, I had the unfortunate experience of having a heart attack. I’m 46 (45 at the time) and had a near fatal heart attack. Look up a Widow Maker heart attack. You’ll understand what I had. Since then, I’ve been in cardiac rehab classes at Deaconess Heart Hospital. They’ve been wonderful. I’m getting the routine of exercise in my life, I’m loving my hour sessions a few times as week, and as sad as it will be to leave the staff and my fellow rehab “students”, my time there is limited. I’ll end my sessions with them in a few weeks and go to working out on my own schedule.

Today, was a great day for me in regards to my health. Well, good from my viewpoint. I had my annual physical this morning and got some great news. One of my health problems has been a high number of bad cholesterol (LDLs).  When I saw my doctor today, we reviewed my previous history of LDL levels, and said we were hoping to see a target of 70 after today’s lab results. So, I went and got my labs done. And, well, have a look:

 

See that number in the lower right corner?! I hit the goal!!!! Okay, so in the past few months I’ve been doping exercise, eating better, and on Lipitor to help with the cholesterol. It seems that my regime is certainly doing the right things for my heart health. Of course, looking at these numbers, it surely a surprise that I didn’t have a heart attack any earlier than this year. Heck, I’m surprised I didn’t have it about 4 years ago. But there’s another benefit of my new eating habits and exercise routines.

Note the number at the bottom of this screen shot. That’s basically my starting weight. Technically, I was higher than that just before the heart attack. I lost a lot of water weight while I was in the hospital. Now, look at the top number of this next screen shot…….

 

Down 20 lbs in three months!!! May not seem like a lot, but to me it’s a great progress. Ultimate goal is to hit and hold around 170-175. I remember what I felt like when I was that weight, and that’s where I want to get again. I’m enjoying the downward slope of my weight. And third benefit, my wife is eating healthier (kinda has to to help me eat healthy too). And she informed me she’s on a downward slope on her weight too. Hurrah!!

 

Confession time. My wife knows this, but ever since the event (aka heart attack), I’ve been having this nagging thought in the back of my mind, “Is my heart just going to stop unexpectedly one of these days?” And when that thought slips from the back of my mind to the front of my mind, it overwhelms me and scares the daylights out of me. And Danielle is a champ in helping me beat that thought back into the darker recesses of my mind again, reminding me that God didn’t take me, and that there’s a reason of His why I’m still here. After seeing these numbers and having something I can refer back to to encourage myself to keep going in the right direction, I am hopeful and a bit more confident that nagging feeling of my heart just stopping won’t be coming back as often.