It’s been just over a week since I arrived home from the hospital. Where I had to self regulate myself and not have the wonderful hospital staff do it all for me. The new diet. The new meds. The new way of just moving throughout my normal day. It’s all relatively small in the grand scale, but adjustments nonetheless.
Here are my biggest challenges so far:
- Liquid restriction. I have pulled it off every day. Not having more than 1,500 mls of liquid. It’s been hard. I like to drink water A LOT.
My tea cups are smaller. My choice of liquid is pickier. I never thought a can of pop would add up to a treat. It’s very hard. - No booze. I thought this was going to be harder. Especially in the summer. My last drink was Canada Day weekend. I have not missed the beer. I have missed a cold gin and tonic. But I have learned there is apparently a solid non alcoholic version you can buy on Amazon.
- Hold the salt please. Yes that bastard sodium. A teaspoon a day is me. It’s been a clean record again of not hitting the limit. What’s been hard is when we ate out the first time. Very few things on the menu I can have. Thankfully all the information is online so I can check first. We are cooking a lot more. Hardly buying anything processed. The whole family is now conscious of sodium to the point where the boys read the label and already know the amounts in something.
- Feeling fully safe to walk too much. Yeah I am supposed to keep it to 30 minutes of brisk walking. That’s hard when you like to walk everywhere. I have eased my way back to 8-10K steps a day. I take all the escalators I can now.
- Not feeling broken and old. I have had more conversations with people in their golden years about heart issues than I ever had before. Now I know the lingo, they open right up. The broken part? I am getting better at calling it being treated.
- Full days. I have been pretty good with going back to work but I have to admit I crave a late afternoon nap. It’s not even my body, it’s my brain. I am sure this has to do with all the meds I am on.
- No heavy lifting. I miss lifting the kids up. That’s a tough one. I miss it. Hopefully soon.
- Wondering too much. What does the future hold? Did my heart slip back off the regular beat? Does my FitBit know anything? Yeah the mind still wanders. Everyone involved in this medically seems to hold the 6 month mark as the next big check point. Getting meds right. Getting back up to speed physically. Doing what I always did. So that’s as far as I am looking down the road as well.
- Stickers and Dye: I still have several squares all over me from where the stickers were pulled off. Jesus this sticky goo is hard to get off. I also seemed to develop a rash that was from the X-Ray dye they used on me. It was angry and itchy for a day, but it’s almost gone.
My limit is 2,300 ml for the whole day
Who wants to end on a downer right? To turn that frown upside down, let’s look at the positives.
Here is what I am enjoying since my stay at the Hotel Heartbeat:
- Not sweating when just sitting around.
- No racing heart.
- I am sleeping so much better. 7+ hours now.
- Knowing it was caught and on a treatment plan.
- That this did not get serious while I was in Chicago.
- The almost 20 lbs I am down. My shirts all fit much better.
- Learning about nutrition.
- Finding a family doctor for myself that I think is pretty good.
- Katie and the boys joining in on the new diets. Great to get the boys started early.
- Being home.
That’s all for now.
