Patient
I might have ignored, or gotten over and ignored, a sudden "numbing" of my left arm were it not for Dr. Kreager. I'd had a couple of previous "serious tests" (there was a 2-word popular term for them--part descriptive, part ominous--but perhaps I should be thankful I've forgotten it. It required disrobing, then descending into a dark place in the bowels of the hospital, next lying on a hard table, then waiting out the dye or irradiated material probing and illuminating the channels and tributaries of the heart (of darkness, as Joseph Conrad calls it for figurative-thematic purposes). The 3rd such "adventure" was a "strike"--the suspected culprit had been found, named and measured--a blockage of 80% (as I recall) of the lateral artery, requiring the installation of a stent (made by Boston Scientific, as I recall). That was over 10 years ago, and I have had no problems since (though I've been tempted to try a.shot of the prescribed Nitro as a potentially superior "wake-up" to caffeine). I think that the test and stent were occasioned by a "heart attack," though I never heard that term used. I'm grateful to Dr. Kreager for making this episode go easily and without any further complications. Were it not for him, I might not be writing a review for which I'm actually unqualified. If competence is an issue, he''s "state of the art" from my inexperienced and necessarily "selfish" persective. He's an affable person who can talk medicine as well as sports, But he can be firm and even frightening when warranted. When questioned by an attendant about my following orders to take each of 4-5 heart meds., my response was apparently interpreted as a tad too casual, even bordering on indifference, by the staff, who passed the word on to Dr. Kreager. In short order I was terrified by the described consequences of missing a pill or two now and then (but what if they make me sleepy?). Dr. Kreager's anecdote about a patient who too a week-long fishing trip but forgot his pills was enough to scare me to my senses. No week-long fishing trip for me! The experience has led me to the following two pieces of advice that might be considered "essential": 1. Read the best-selling book about heart disease by the author whose last name is "Esselstyne" (the father, not the son--who has piggy-packed his own book of heart-healthy recipes unto his father's more valuable book for the layman). If you don't like reading books, I'll sum up the heart of the matter (sorry) in a short simple sen. Itence: "Avoid saturated fat!" That's it. Ignore the pitchmen (there are quite a few with their own books, inclusive diets, and life-saving pills. You probably know already that you need to eat more raw vegetables. (Beef no longer appeals to me and, even less so, pork. I've learned to love pigs for their intelligence and "thought processes," which easily rival those of a 3-year-old human child. Forget the morning bacon and the evening pepperoni pizza. Not only are you doing your heart a favor but you're making a statement about the atrocity of "pig farms." Some are rat-infested stinking holes, and even the most clean and efficient operations proceed only by pretending the animal is no more, no less than "meat on hooves." These living beings were meant to stand on real ground, to feel the sunlight, to root in dirt and to wallow in mud or water--that's their "skin cream," not an excuse to slaughter and eat them. Artifically inseminating rows of female pigs is not only putting boars out of business but weakening the gene pool and contaminating pork protein. Go to Youtube and watch the antics of piglets and young pigs--from 2 weeks to 6 months. No animal is more irresistable. But they learn from humans--to be frightened, doomed animals or to be spoiled, overweight, crippled and fat-blind. It was not made to be slaughtered and eaten. It will interact with humans, but not with the "unconditional love" of a dog. It's selfish like a child, and it learns from example. Establish a routine and stick to it! 2. Always take your Plavix or Crestor