A FIRST I wasn’t ready for…MAINE MEDICAL CENTER
Happy April Fool’s Day!
I am celebrating in my own special way, with the joy of simply being alive. I had a close call just a week ago.
I’d scheduled myself a baseline stress test , having never had one. Long story short, I experienced a heart attack while trudging up an incline on the tread mill! Everything else happened fast. The wheel chair, the emergency room the blood tests and blood thinners and then the ambulance ride to Maine Medical Center in Portland. After several days stay and many tests I have three new stents and marching orders to eat lighter. Tell that to a French trained Chef. No butter? No swine? No wine? I guess bacon is out of the picture too…
What I learned, I would like to share.
Eating “well” and moderate exercise isn’t enough if you have chronically high cholesteral. After two decades of saying “no thanks” to statins, I am taking them now. I tossed the butter for better olive oil and am laser focused on lean proteins, eating the rainbow of vegetables and sadly, skipping dessert. For the time being, it’s goat cheese only. These are big changes for person whose life has been food and wine. But I am ready and entirely grateful for this wake up call.
It could have ended very differently.
