It’s hard to write about my heart. Which is why I’ve gone missing again. About a week after my last post, I had a drop-me-to-my-knees kind of chest pain while walking across a flat parking lot. No hills, no stress, just plain old walking caused my heart to contract. I’d also experienced dizziness, minor chest pains, and a fluttering feeling near my heart many times, in spite of my attempts to ignore the whole crazy thing. It was obviously time for a more aggressive approach to dealing with my anomaly.
Back at the cardiologist’s office, we learned I needed to go on daily medication for the first time in my life. Thus the pill reminder/holder. If you’ve lived 50 years without medication, it’s harder than you think to remember to take a daily pill, even when it’s one that keeps your heart beating. After counting the pills left in the bottle one too many times, trying to figure out whether or not I’d taken the pill that day, I broke down and bought the pill reminder. So it’s official. I’m old now. But alive. Thanks to a drug called Norvasc, which opens my arteries and veins so that more blood can flow to my heart through the arteries I do have. I have a whole new respect for pharmaceutical companies, believe me.
The amazingly good news is that there aren’t any side effects. I can take a very small dose and it’s enough for now. After several weeks on the drug, I can exercise as much as I want, and get my heart rate up at the gym, and life feels pretty normal again. Except for that darned pill holder, reminding me that I’m not getting any younger. Not a bad price to pay for life, I’d say. I’m still a very, very lucky person; dramatic visits to the cardiologist, and exciting stays at places where they pump drugs into my veins, are over.
I’m knocking on wood as I write this (which makes it very hard to type, by the way), but this should be my last post about my heart. For a long, long while. And I can get back to writing about recipes. About really good food, and friends, and sailing, and all the other things you come here to read. Thanks for sticking with me. You’re the best.
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You made my heart skip more than a beat when I started reading this one……take heart (hmmmmm) we are all using those damn pill holders because our heads are toooo filled with stuff to keep everything straight. I’m glad everything turned out well….I’ll be sending you good vibes from the West County! oxoxoxoxo kc
If only we could disk defrag, or clean out our cookies or temporary files remembering a daily pill might require less reminding. Still, a pill? I’d be willing to post a reminder each day on fb to make sure you take it. I’ll need a minute though to program it into my smart phone’s calendar. Ha! Your heart plus a tiny pill =health? Sounds ok with me. Keep it up girl.