After just two weeks of taking Crestor

my total cholesterol went from 230 to 114 and my LDL (bad cholesterol) went from 164 to 55!

I kid you not!!

And I lost 10 pounds. "-)

Mothers' Day

Mothers' Day was different this year.

Cathy's back is only one week into the 8-12 week healing period so Bill and Drew came here and prepared brunch. We usually go to their house where Bill whips up some incredibly creative thing. So ours was, of necessity, a simpler fare.

Which worked out better for me, as I'm trying to cut way back on fat and sugar. I never eat sugar, per se, and as a kid, I would never eat anything that had any fat on it. It's been working pretty well. As I left the hospital a week ago Friday, they weighed me -- clothes, sneakers and all -- at 238+, and this morning, nekkid, I was 221!!! (I won't be that tomorrpw morning, I'll bet!)

I wish I could take Cathy's pain away. The pain patch helps but she can't sit up for long periods of time. <sigh>

Back Home

They found two blockages but fixed just the one because of the amount of dye involved. I go back May 18 for another PTCA with stent. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, read the next entry!)

In the meanwhile, Cathy has a compressed fracture of a lumbar vertebra and can't go to work for two more weeks. She's on a narcotic-type pain patch and a muscle relaxant. There's no soft tissue damage but the fracture will take 8-12 weeks to heal. Yuk!

Off to the hospital!

I have a cardiac catheterization scheduled for 9AM Thursday, May 3 and have to be there at 0700! One good thing -- I'll only have to fast for 7 hours. :-)

If all goes well -- and I have no reason to believe otherwise -- that's all they will have to do.

If they find blockage, there are three possibilities: angioplasty, angioplasty with a stent, and bypass surgery.

The latter is called for only if the cardiologist finds  "...multiple blocked arteries with diffuse disease..." Since I have none of the symptoms associated with significant blockage and only one coronary artery showed up as iffy in the coronary CTA, I anticipate having angioplasty and spending the night in the hospital (St Mary's Medical Center, Langhorne, PA), and going home Friday.

Cathy will probably send an "update" email when she gets home Thursday.

Thanks in advance for your good wishes and healing vibes.

Math Whiz!!

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?