6 Months

Well, I have thought a lot this week about the sudden journey I began 6 months ago.  Friday was the six month post heart attack mark.  I could have never imagined on the morning of October 13, 2011 what my life would be like today.

Today, I find myself in a small club of remarkable women.  Each one with her own story and her own motivation to meet heart disease head on.  We are in a club I never knew existed--the 20% of women that survive the "widow maker."  In a club of women that have survived heart attacks period.  I have come to find out how very fortunate that I was to survive.  There are not that many women that do.  That 20% statistic means that 80% of women die. 

In the last week, I came across the link to the Greater Kansas City Heart Walk.  I find that this event has been taking place for years and much like others, I always thought it was great people did that but I didn't pay much attention past that.  This year we have our team set to walk and it means a great deal to me.  I need to start looking for a way to share my story with more women.

I started a no added oil vegan diet on January 1 of this year and on April 15 I weigh 26 pounds less.  Yay to success!!  Surprising not only to me but to my close friends is that I have not had any catastrophic injury in the kitchen since I have actually been using my kitchen since January--I love that I have not lost a finger and should probably knock on wood!!! The other surprise is that I have not burned the house down! I still eat mostly raw, so perhaps this is the reason that I haven't burned the house down:)  Raw is just easier, keeps me on track and is probably always how I will eat.

Today was food day.  I did not like the marinated chick peas because I used the blueberry dressing.  I like the blueberry dressing just not on the chick peas. So I pureed them into hummus.  It has a fabulous taste spread on my no oil pumpernickel bread.  I continue to uncover more about the link between food and disease.  I am confident every day that I have made the right decision and will have much heart health in the future. 

On the morning of October 13, 2011 I could never have imagined that on April 15, 2012 I would be able to say that I no longer eat meat or dairy products.  That was so foreign to me then.  I am still surprised at the ease that I have taken to this.  It is not all that great, I still drink diet soda.  I still fight that fight but expect that I will conquer it eventually.  Quite honestly, on the morning of October 13, 2011, I could not imagine being a "heart attack survivor" or how much being a heart attack survivor would have come to mean to me today.