And this is a weighty tome. 600ish pages. Thought that the idea of reading them from cover to cover was somewhat off putting just right now! But maybe I can read a chapter at a time?
Heart Attack - Sad News
I reported on Friday that my euphoria at developing my angina plan had been blown off course, or whatever happens to euphoria when it's no longer there, by the untimely death of our friend and relative Robin Sims.
Since then we've learned that Robin did indeed die from a heart attack.
Robin was a very kind and private man who I'll miss very much, as all who knew him will.
My Angina Weekly Report,
The week had started so well. My personal angina plan was developing nicely, with great support from the local Cardiac Rehab team.
I'd even discussed starting cycling again.
I'd ordered a book on mindfulness.
My angina pain was under control, manageable, and so I started to hope again that maybe the underlying cause of angina, coronary heart disease, could be reversed......
The exercise session had gone well.
I'd put my name forward to be trained as a trainer for the Expert Patients Programme - EPP.
It's all been so positive and yet. On Wednesday a close family friend and relative was found dead. It's shocked us all. He had been apparently fit and healthy.
We don't yet know what the cause of death was but it's quite possible that it was a heart attack.
Right now I don't feel very much like crowing about how positive things are, or could be. Maybe I'm lucky though, angina has indicated a problem. Others don't get the warning signs.
Warning! Pomegranate Juice
It's promoted as being heart friendly and some think it can help reverse atherosclerosis but it's apparently similar to grapefruit juice and can conflict with the meds people like me have to take.
I felt very dizzy about an hour ago after finishing the dregs of my juice and after a quick search about pomegranates found out why....Pain!
Warm Up - it's just so helpful when you have Angina
One thing that has been amazing is the effect of warming up in deferring or preventing angina pain on exertion. Six weeks ago, I wouldn't have believed I could have endured a challenging, for me, exercise programme. The change in meds has helped. But warming up has made an enormous difference. I've only had angina pain once when exercising but have had it recently when just walking a few yards to the shops on a number of occasions. I'm going to warm up more - whenever and wherever possible.