Heart Party Fun

We always have fun parties and last night was really fun:)  Today is the two year anniversary of my heart attack and we celebrated life, love and friendship last night!:

  My partners in crime at The University of Kansas--we were freshman in 1988 when KU won the NCAA Basketball Championship with Danny Manning.  Every other year we can define by who has been on the Jayhawk mens basketball team!  I also went to jr. high with Laura and high school with Deb.

My Nallwood Jr. High girls.  This means we met 33 years ago:)

 My high school friend (and Vegas friend if you have followed along)  Deb

 My friend Diane

My friend Donita

Deb says this is magenta but we think she wore purple and could possibly be slipping over to the dark side of K State.  She is in luck that K State did not win and has the same miserable record in football that KU has!

We had a great time and I love all these folks plus the others that were there! It appears all the men did not want to be in pictures:)

Happy Heart Anniversary to me today!!  I am so lucky to be here. I get to take my niece's senior pics and root on the Chiefs (who are 5-0.  That's right, FIVE and ZERO!!!!) on this beautiful fall day.  Cherish what you have and cheers to the life and health of all of you as well as me!

Happy Heart Anniversary to Me!!

Sunday October 13 is my two year heart anniversary!  Two years since that moment in time that changed my life so drastically.

I am thankful for so many things about that night. First, I am thankful that I recognized that I was sick enough that I needed to call an ambulance.  Second, I am thankful for the first responders, EMT's and paramedics that came to my house.  Not to mention the fire department, police and county sheriffs officers.  I live in a town of 6,000 people in Kansas and there is really not much that goes on here so calling 911 means they all come.  I am thankful they all came.  I am thankful that there was a fabulous cardiac team waiting on me when I arrived at Lawrence Memorial.  They got paged after hours and left their families to save my life---thank you, thank you, thank you!  I am thankful for the several different cardiologists I have had.  My first cardiologist saved my life when they took me off the ambulance and he had to place three stents in my LAD.  I didn't like him though for post emergency care so  I had to find another cardiologist. I found a second  cardiologist that I loved.  He was funny as hell and humor goes a long way when you are as ill as I was. He discovered the restenosis and put two more stents inside the three I already had.  He up and went to practice in Topeka.  Now, I am seeing Dr.Yang.  She is about my age and a fabulous doc--she takes great care of not only my heart but also me.

They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  To that end, I love this:

Precisely because it did not kill me, I have had experiences that I would not have had if I had never had a heart attack.  I started blogging.  I would have never started blogging.  Much to my surprise, people actually read it and I have met new people because of it.  I started the blog because I was 42, had a heart attack and really just didn't know what to do.  It was more for me to work through what it meant to me, but the fact that you read it makes me smile.  Thank you.  This risk is real for everyone and I want to spread that knowledge to as many people as I can.  If just one person recognizes their risk and acts to avoid heart disease, this life I was handed has meaning.

I have joined the Go Red Ambassadors through the American Heart Association in Kansas City. I have met incredible women that understand.  They are all so different, so interesting and so strong! The first meeting I went to was so emotional--they all just knew why.

In February of 2012 I did not participate in Go Red for Women month.  It was all too new and still very raw and I was still in denial.  By the time February rolled around this year, it meant so much to me.  It was very emotional for me!

On the first Friday in February we went red for women.  My friends, family and co workers went red for me and I love them all for it:

 I attended the Go Red Casting Call:

 Go Red Casting Call Video

One of my best friends daughter's held a fundraiser for the AHA selling red dress pins at her middle school:

The result:

My high school friend Mia makes jewelry and made this for the Heart and Stroke Ball silent auction in my honor:

In April I attended the Half Day for Your Heart Event:

In May, my company had  a Greater Kansas City Heart Walk Team and we raised almost $2000.00:

In June we attended Girls Night Out at the K and got to represent heart disease survivors on the field of the Kansas City Royals:

What a fun year it has been and I would have never had these experiences if I wasn't sick!  How is that for odd?  What a strange life it can be.

I look forward to this weekend as tomorrow is my Second Annual Heart Anniversary Party.  Now I love a good party and what better reason?  Tomorrow I celebrate life, celebrate my friends and family and celebrate the fact that I am even around to celebrate.  I love my friends and family and they have been amazing through all of this!  I really am lucky.  I got a second chance to spend more time with them and to reconnect.  Often time life gets in the way of relationships.  People tend to let work overrun their lives and I think you have to make sure that doesn't happen.  Make sure to make those relationships come first--with your family and your friends.  If I had died that night two years ago there would have been so much left unsaid.  Make sure you say it--there is no better time than right now. 

If you are out and about tomorrow night raise your glass for me and toast to my health and life and yours!

With love--

Jodi

Pay Heed

Off of the heart topic folks.  We are only 10, yes count them 10 days from Late Night at the Phog.

Just to get you in the mood:

And for my Vegas friend Deb because she never could do this while we were at KU and she certainly needs to learn it before KU plays in the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship game the first Monday of April in 2014, the fight song clap:

Just to relate this to heart disease and stroke, fifty-six hospitals have earned AHA/ASA and The Joint Commission comprehensive Stroke Center certification. Rock Chalk to KU Med being the Kansas hospital to receive the certification!

 

I AM Strong Enough to Live It!

Someone posted this picture to Facebook last night and now I can't even remember who.  I suppose that is the cholesterol drug side effect of not being able to remember.  At least I blame my forgetfulness on that because it is convenient to do so! Really, being 44, oh so close to 45 at this point and super busy could possibly be the other reason but I still blame it on the cholesterol medication!  I have thought about this statement all day.  Every time I have had a meeting to hammer out issues today, every time I wondered if I pulled a muscle in my back or if that is a sign of another heart attack I have thought about it.  Whatever my issue was today, I thought about this.  Time after time since my heart attack I wonder who in the hell handed me this life and why in the hell they thought I was strong enough to live it. 

Perhaps I was given this life because I am strong enough to live it. Of course I suppose part of that is my fault as it is not a huge surprise that I grab the injustice of an early massive heart attack by the horns and wrestle with it publicly. Perhaps the one that hands out these lives knows this about me.  Perhaps they knew I would just be pissed enough that this happened to me that I would shout it from every corner of the internet and tell every person that asks so that no one else has to do this.

Perhaps the one that hands out these lives sends the precious ones of you that follow my journey and guides you to send me inspirational messages on my worst days.  The days that I am so tired of having heart disease and dealing with all the bullshit it entails.  On those days, a day much like today,  I usually come home to a message from someone I have known for thirty years telling me they got help and they are ok because of everything I write. On my days when I haven't slept because I was afraid I might not wake up, one of you that reads this or follows me on Facebook reminds me why I was given this life.  On my worst days because of this life, I am also the most grateful for this life.  I am grateful for you that read this be you my closest friend or total stranger for letting me know that I have made a difference in the way you choose to live your life, or that I have made a difference in your decision to seek medical care.

I suppose in some weird demented way , I am actually grateful to the one that hands out these lives. So, thank you whoever you are that hands out these lives for this life (even though there are days I secretly hate you).  Thank you for giving me the chance to make the difference in someones decision to call an ambulance.  Thank you for allowing me to be in the back of the minds of those that are trying desperately to ignore medical symptoms that they really know they shouldn't ignore.  Most of all, thank you for showing me that I am indeed strong enough to live the life you gave me.

Color Run Part 2

If you have followed along you know I did the Color Run in June in K.C.  Today, the Color Run visited Lawrence, KS.  As I bleed Jayhawk Crimson and Blue, we certainly could not miss the Color run in the town of the Jayhawks!  It was a much more laid back atmosphere than K.C. and we had a great time.  I walked again with my heart sister, Julie.  I met her through the AHA.  We started out at at great bakery, Wheatfields.  They have the best no oil, no dairy bread ever!  I buy the Walnut Sage bread:)

We made our way down to Watson Park where they had closed Kentucky and Tennessee streets.  We had such a fun time.  I am eternally grateful that I get to take part in these things.  With the massiveness of my heart attack, easily I could have lost the ability to do these things.

It was a great start to the day in a town I love!

30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know

National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week is September 9-15, 2013.

 

This year, the campaign organizers at Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness week have provided a 30 Things Template for folks like me that like to share.  Here is mine: 

1. The illness I live with is:  Heart Disease

2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: 2011

3. But I had symptoms since: Looking back probably two years prior to suffering a  STEMI or "Widow Maker" heart attack.  I was so tired but I chalked it up to being a working mom with no ability to say no to anyone ever when they asked me to do something.  The tiredness was overwhelming.

4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: Changing my eating and exercise habits.  I loved nacho cheese and hated to exercise.  Now I have to hate nacho cheese and love exercising.  Two years later I am still getting used to this.

5. Most people assume: I am not sick because I don't look sick.  I battle heart disease every day but refuse to let it get the best of me.

6. The hardest part about mornings are: Remembering to take all those cardiac meds that my docs say I should take or risk dying.  I never was much of a medicine taker!

7. My favorite medical TV show is: Not to age me, but Diagnosis Murder

8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: My Samsung Galaxy S4.  It tracks the 10,000 steps for me that I make sure to take every day.  I challenge you to track your steps and take 10,000 each day!  Plus it keeps me totally connected to my social media!

9. The hardest part about nights are:  Going to bed hoping I wake up in the morning.

10. Each day I take 7 pills & vitamins. They keep me alive but I have a real love/hate relationship with them!

11. Regarding alternative treatments I:  Wholeheartedly am for them.  I believe in treating heart disease with nutrition along with my meds--See The China Study and  How To Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.

12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: Invisible even though folks forget I am really ill.

13. Regarding working and career: I still work hard at my job and I rock at it! I have to have a keen self-interest in keeping my stress level under control.  I try not to work more than 40 hours a week and I try to leave work at work.  Not always easy--I challenge you to work on this too!

14. People would be surprised to know: That I never saw myself as being an outspoken advocate of heart disease awareness.  It is important though:)  I know those of you that have known me are laughing that I never figured myself to be this outspoken:)

15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: That it is my new reality.  You have no idea how many days I wish I could go back.

16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: Go to the Casting Call for the American Heart Association Go Red Ambassadors.  I am so proud to have joined them and be able to tell my story.

17. The commercials about my illness:  Are geared towards men and don't tell the whole truth about women's symptoms.  Ask me--they weren't my symptoms.

18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: Living taking things for granted.  I can't do that anymore.

19. It was really hard to have to give up:  My old life.

20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is:  Actually an old one.  I rediscovered my love for restoring old furniture.

21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: Really, really cherish it.

22. My illness has taught me: Not to take life, health, family and friends for granted.  It has taught me to learn to say no when I don't have the energy and to eliminate those that cause drama in my life. 

23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is: It isn't healthy not to eat meat.

24. But I love it when people:  Let me know that they have made life changes because of what happened to me.

25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is: Stop Chasing Ordinary.

26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: Get through the shock and then we will talk.

27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: The inner strength I didn't know I had.

28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: Just let me bitch till I felt better about it.  I rarely take part in self-pity--my very best friends know this and indulge me on occasion. 

29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: My illness is invisible and if you met me today you would not know I was sick.  I want you to know that you might someday have an invisible illness too.  If you do, I will be there for you.

30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel:  Like I survived for a reason.  I survived so I can share my story and educate you.  My sincerest hope is you will pay attention to your bodies and be aware of heart disease.

Go Red For Women Casting Calls (playlist)

I attended my first Go Red Ambassador meeting of the new year.  All of the events that are planned for this year are most excellent--Go Red for Women Day, The Heart and Stroke Ball and the Red Dress Dash to point out a few. I will be attending my very first Red Dress Dash this year!  I signed up to speak at events and I am very excited about that.  You know, in my spare time!

One of the things we will be doing this fall is a photo shoot with all of the Kansas City Go Red Ambassadors.  This will be for February's Go Red for Women campaign.  This has sparked the vanity inside me. I am now getting out of bed at 4:45 am about 5 mornings a week to walk. I walk between 5 and six miles a day between the morning walk and the evening walk. I mean really, I haven't done so well at finding the skinny bitch again and now I wonder how wide do I really want to appear on a billboard???  I am back on the vegan wagon.  So, I readily admit  this is all a vanity thing but in the end it is good for my heart---whatever it takes:)  Seriously, when my alarm goes off every morning and I can hardly believe I thought it was a good idea to drag my ass out of bed at 4:45 am, I just chant billboard over and over in my head.  I try to refrain from doing it out loud, but some mornings I come close :).

Remember back in February when I went to the Go Red for Women Casting Call here in Kansas City?   That was such an emotional day for me and quite honestly, it was emotional to watch myself share the story.  As always it is a very important story which is why I have decided to share with all of you!

My Bracelet

Carolyn Thomas at Heart Sisters wrote an excellent blog about medical i.d. today called Why aren’t you wearing your medical I.D?

I'll have to admit that I went until just last month--a full 20 months without wearing any kind of  medical i.d.  I really never thought much about it until I traveled to Ohio on business with my co-worker, Claudia.  While we were there I realized if something happened to me, all she would be able to tell them is that I'd suffered a previous heart attack.  She would never be able to tell them I have 5 stents in my LAD and that I am taking carvedilol, plavix, simvistatin and asprin..  She would never be able to tell them that I am allergic to penicillin and latex.  She would never be able to give them a contact number of someone back home. Actually, if something happened to me at home, I am quite sure even my husband and children would never be able to rattle all of that off!

When we got home, I started looking for a bracelet.  Most places they are so sporty and I was looking for something that was not quite so sporty.  I found this great website called Lauren's Hope and I ordered the one called Cambay Cuff Stainless Steel Medical ID.  The total cost with shipping was around $63.00. Check them out, they have great products and, I was pleasantly surprised to find out they are just north of the river in Riverside, MO.  I really love their products!

I still intend to subscribe to Medical Alert Services as Carolyn highlighted in her blog so that I can have a more complete medical history on file.  While my Lauren's Hope bracelet is wonderful and I love it, Medical Alert Services allows  for a complete medical history to be available to emergency responders.  It is basically your own version of an electronic medical record that they use in doctors offices and hospitals.


I know that no one ever expects to be in an emergency situation.  Trust me that I couldn't believe it when I was in the ambulance.  Lucky for me, I was conscious and could talk to the paramedics and to the nurses and docs on the fabulous cardiac team that was waiting for me when I arrived at the hospital.   If I hadn't been, they would not have known I was allergic to latex or penicillin.

There are a whole host of diseases and reasons why you should consider medical id.

If you have never checked out Carolyn's blog, go check her out at http://myheartsisters.org/. She has great heart information!

Feeling A Little Triumphant Today

When I first had the heart attack, I vowed to lose all the weight that I needed to lose.  I lost quite a bit of it--30 pounds.  I got lazy and gained back all 30 pounds. Seeing as my cardiologist is going to have a fit when I go back, I have been able to refocus this week!

What worked for me was to plan food every weekend for the upcoming week.  I spent half a day shopping and another half day portioning out food for the week.  Last year after I went back to the cath lab for additional stents, had our company's User Summit, SMS 25 year reunion, BV/BVN 25 year reunion and went on vacation, I was too busy to continue to plan out what I was eating each week.  Once I got too busy, I broke the habit.  I am an all or nothing person.  I am either eating good or eating crap.  There is no mixing the two.

Seeing as I know for sure that eating crap it bad for me, I feel rather triumphant today:

This, my friends, is all of my fruits and veggies (lots of kale) that I need for the week.  Not to mention that I have been up every morning for eight days working out.  I am back on the wagon! Cheers to that!

It Can Happen to You

James Gandolfini died of a heart attack at age 51.  Sadly, this is all too ordinary.  You know why it is ordinary?  It is ordinary because no one really thinks they will have a heart attack. The fact is that if you live in the USA and eat a normal western diet, you are at risk.  If you go to restaurants, the portion sizes are much too large filled with way too much artery clogging fat and a huge amount of salt.  Most families eat out more than they do at home.  Hey, I get it.  I am busy and totally domestically challenged.  All I am saying is that you might want to reconsider.

Do you know what numbers you should know?  Click here to find out what numbers you should know.  Go ahead, I'll wait.  So, you've clicked and now you have learned from the American Heart Association what numbers are important.  I hear you saying, my numbers aren't bad, I'm not at risk.  Are you sure?  My blood pressure was 110/70 and my total cholesterol was 134 and I had a massive heart attack.  So tell me now that you aren't at risk if your numbers are good. You exercise so you aren't at risk?  Well, meet Jen at My Life in Red.  She is a distance runner and suffered a heart attack. You don't have any family history of heart disease so you aren't at risk?  Neither did I and have I mentioned that I suffered a massive heart attack?

You've been to the doctor and he or she has told you you need to lose weight but you don't listen because you don't have any other risk factors so how bad could extra weight be by itself?  Well, the American Medical Association has classified obesity as a disease.  Do I agree with that?  No, but I'm not a doctor.  I think it is an epidemic of bad decisions.  Before you start throwing stones at my bluntness, I am medically classified as obese.  I am this way because of a culmination of bad decisions in my 44 years.  Too much sugar, too much fat and nacho cheese as a primary food group. Admittedly mostly because my kitchen hates me and my smoke detectors serve as my oven timer most days.  Does that mean I am diseased?  Well, quite honestly yes but not with obesity, with heart disease as a result of my bad decisions. I think calling it a disease gives people a free pass to think that this is a disease so they don't need to do anything to address it. It is a pass to continue to  live a western lifestyle that thrives on indulgence.  So, if your doctor tells you that you need to lose weight, are you so arrogant as to think that it really won't cause you any problems if you don't? It leads to heart disease, stroke and cancer.  I struggle with mine daily, so I'm not saying it isn't a struggle.  What I am saying is that you should should take the struggle seriously.

I read all the sentiments from folks as they learned of the death of James Gandolfini.  All I could think is the one take away I wish that everyone would take away from this is not oh, how sad. I wish what everyone would take away is that if it can happen to him, it can happen to everyone.  If it can happen to me it can happen to you.

Falling Off the Vegan Wagon

I have fallen off the vegan wagon.  This takes me back far in the other direction of finding the skinny bitch.  I keep saying I will get back to it and then I find a reason not to.  Last week, I went to Cincinnati on business, the week before, who knows!  I have found excuse after excuse not to get back to it.

In reality, I did not go vegan for weight loss.  I went vegan because I knew it was the healthiest choice for someone that is post STEMI.  I went vegan for all of the right reasons.  The thing about being vegan is that it requires a lot of planning.  I am so not a planner.  I basically go through life flying by the seat of my pants.  While I am almost always having a good time, that leaves very little time for planning and structure. 

In the beginning, it was so frightening to have had such a massive heart attack.  Less than 20% of women survive a STEMI and of those that do, 42% die within the first year.  That was nerve racking and scary. It scared structure into me:).  As I've gotten farther away, it is less scary.

I read this article titled Being Vegan:  A Gift to My Children on Father's Day.  It so hit home that the reason for going vegan was so that I get to be around for my kids and my granddaughter.  I get to see them grow up and become fabulous young adults.  I get to grow old with my husband.  I only get to do this if I get back to taking the kind of care of myself that I know I need to. 

Tomorrow is the day.  Here's to your health and mine on this Father's Day!

I Wouldn't Give It Back

I have had a great couple of weeks.  I have done some things I wouldn't have done if I hadn't had a heart attack.  So, this gets me thinking.  I have spent a fair amount of time over the last 20 months wondering why this happened to me.  Admittedly the first bit of wondering post heart attack was spent in a self-pity  but once I emerged from the Post Heart Attack Stun, the wondering is not spent in self-pity but in more of a state of amazement.

I have met some amazing people along my journey.  I have met amazing people through this blog and through the Facebook page.  I get great messages sent to me and I love hearing all of your amazing stories.  Each story is so unique yet eerily similar.  In the end, some have survived, and some have not.  There is very little other than luck that separates those that survive from those who don't.

I have met women who have not wanted to tell their stories but somehow seem comfortable sharing it with me.  Being a woman who has survived a heart attack puts me in a unique kinship with these women that I meet.  Perhaps the fact that I am online makes it "safe" to share their stories.  This makes me incredibly happy because the intent of the blog now is to share my story and my successes and failures in getting healthy in the hopes that it motivates others to learn abut heart disease. In the beginning though, I figured the blog was just so that I could make sense of what being a heart attack survivor meant to me. I am constantly amazed that anyone even finds my blog but they do and they actually read it! I love that sharing my story allows others to feel comfortable sharing theirs.  Even if they never share it with another person other than me, there is something totally cathartic about sharing the story.   It is why I do this.

The experience of becoming a Go Red Ambassador for the American Heart Association has been tremendous.  I have already met some amazing women and I am looking forward to getting to know all of their stories.  I have met my friend Julie through the AHA. She bleeds Crimson and Blue so you know we are fast friends!  Rock Chalk!  On June 1, she and I walked the 5K Color Run:

Last night, I had the incredible honor of representing heart disease survivors on the field of the Kansas City Royals.  They donated $10,000 from the proceeds of their event last night, Girls Night Out at The K to the American Heart Association--Kansas City.  We arrived early and volunteered passing out stuff at the gates as women arrived for the event and then went down on the field during the pre-game.  The Royals won and it was Fireworks Friday!!

Meeting these incredible women and all of the experiences that I would not have had otherwise make it worth it.  I would never give back the heart attack or the heart disease.  I would never give it back--ever!  I live life with a much deeper appreciation for the relationships and experiences I have.  I live life reconnecting with people that I haven't seen in many years!  These relationships are very important to me---each and every one of them.  I live life sharing my story and hoping that people pay attention and understand their risk of heart disease.  Not just my female friends, but also my male friends.  Even though I stress that heart disease is the number one killer of women -- 1 in 3, it is the number one killer of all Americans.  So, my male friends are at risk as well.  I know people have been paying attention because I get Facebook messages and emails from friends telling me that they have made changes in their lives or have gone to see their doctors because of my story.  I am so thrilled and honored when they share this with me!  Bring on the role of heart attack survivor as I will embrace it always!

On a totally different closing note---Rock Chalk Jayhawk and congrats to the Outdoor Track and Field National Champion Lady Jayhawks!