What to Eat?

I have been a bad blogger lately. I just haven't had much to update.

I've been doing good, I saw the cardiologist on Monday. My blood work came back and my cholesterol has come down from when I was in the hospital, but it is still high, so I just have to keep working on that. They had me double my fish oil per day.

When they did the echo of my heart when I was in the hospital there was a portion of my heart that wasn't beating as fast as it should because of what had been blocked. So I will go in June and get another echo done to look and see if that is okay or if it is still damaged. Hopefully all goes well there.

I have lost around 15 lbs. The weight loss is slowing down but I am still working really hard. I have been exercising 6 days a week and eating good. It's a long road, but I am feeling way better and my clothes are looser so that is good.

Tonight, we are going to the Mavericks game and I was wondering what I could eat. Before I would have eaten a hot dog and nachos or a pretzel. Boy was I shocked when I looked those things up. Nachos have over 1500 calories, more than I've been eating in an entire day!

I found a really good article on making better choices at places like that. http://www.active.com/nutrition/Articles/The_Diet_Detective__Eating_at_the_stadium.htm.

I just have a little bit of time since I'm on my lunch break but will try to update more later.

Fame

Hello all!

I have been teasing my boyfriend about how famous I am since my news appearance. Just what I always hoped I would be famous for! :)

Overall, I am pleased with how the story went. I could sit and critique the way I look all day, but I have heard lots of encouraging words and that means a lot. I think seeing myself on the news made things hit a little harder. Sometimes I think I push back the gravity of what actually happened to me. I feel so much better and so it's easy to think it wasn't such a big deal. For those who watched it online, I felt like his sentence "Dr. Dunker said that Carly had 3 of the 5 biggest risks for heart attack. They are; diabetes, family history of heart problems, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and smoking." was kind of confusing. For the record, the 3 risk factors I had were family history, high blood pressure, and I am insulin resistant (diabetes). I do not smoke, my cholesterol was just on the border to being high. They said it was okay for a normal person but for someone with my other risk factors it needs to be lower.

Last week I went to rehab at a different time than normal and this woman was there while her husband was doing his program. She just kept staring at me. She asked me my situation and I spoke with her but even the rest of the time she just kept staring like she was going to burst into tears. At the end she apologized for staring, that she just couldn't believe I was facing all of this so young. It's things like that that make me a little bit sadder. I don't want to be seen as someone to take pity on. I just want to get healthy and get to live a long healthy life like a lot of other people. Each day is a different emotion.

On a happier note, I have lost 13 lbs! I absolutely love getting on the scale and seeing the numbers going down. My clothes are fitting looser too. I am waiting until I have lost more weight to shop, I already have lots of clothes for the way down. :)

I have had the past four days off. It's been nice, I wish I had money to go on an actual vacation, I didn't really do much. On Saturday, Sandi and I went to the park by my house and walked for about 40 minutes or so. She got tired way before me. Although it was an extra workout tugging on her leash and pulling her away from other dogs and kids.

I made some yummy barbecue chicken the other night from that same cookbook I talked about before. We grilled it and it was delicious, even Jason really liked it. Last night I made some spinach manicotti. I wasn't as big of a fan of that, Jason thought it was good minus the spinach. I think maybe it was a little spicy for me (the recipe used salsa). Food is getting easier to eat healthy though and I'm not craving the junk food like I was at first. It's been over a month since I have had a chicken finger, and for those who know me, they know that is a huge accomplishment in itself! :)

Off to bed, back to work tomorrow.

Local woman in her 20s proves heart attacks are not age-specific

Local woman in her 20s proves heart attacks are not age-specific

Recipe

Two posts in one day! I made the yummiest recipe for dinner tonight and thought I would share. It's from a great cookbook called guilt free cooking that my mom sent me. It has tons of recipes and lots of pictures, which I love. Amazon has the book for $7, here is the link; http://www.amazon.com/Taste-Home-Cooking-Recipes-Healthier/dp/B002IKLO1Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331002869&sr=8-1.

So, tonight I made the chicken cordon bleu. I am taking the picture from the book, mine did not turn out looking so neat and pretty, but it was still yummy!

Ingredients:

8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 oz each) - *I bought the chicken breast tenderloins they weren't quite 4 oz but I just used less cheese on each*

1/2 teaspoon pepper

8 slices lean deli ham *I used the reduced sodium deli ham*

1-1/2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

2/3 cup skim milk

1 cup crushed cornflakes

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

SAUCE:

1 can healthy choice condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1. Flatten chicken to 1/4-in thickness. Sprinkle with pepper; place a ham slice and 3 tablespoons of cheese down the center of each piece. Roll up and tuck in ends; secure with toothpicks. Pour milk into a shallow bowl. In another bowl, combine the cornflakes, paprika, garlic powder, and salt. Dip chicken in milk, then roll in crumbs.

2. Place in a 13-in x 9-in baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until juices run clear.

3. Meanwhile in a small saucepan, whisk the soup, sour cream, and lemon juice until blended; heat through. Discard toothpicks from chicken; serve with sauce.

Here are the nutritional facts:

(serving is 1 chicken breast half with 2 tablespoons of sauce)

calories: 306
fat: 7 g
saturated fat: 3 g
cholesterol: 91 mg
sodium: 990 mg
carbohydrate: 16 g
protein: 41 g

Jason loved it too - and he is not much of a chicken person. I served ours with green beans and whole wheat couscous.

Enjoy!

St. Mary's

The Gala went great! It was a lot of fun, and I'm so glad a few of my friends could be there to support me. I really liked my dress, and Jason always looks great in a tux! :)

The speech went well. I was really nervous but after reading for a moment or two, I calmed down. Cara took video on my phone, but I'm not sure I'm ready to watch yet. I am going to copy my speech below for anyone who is interested in reading it. It was more focused on the care I received, then what happened to me (as it was a fundraiser for St. Mary's).

After the gala, we changed and went downtown with some friends to watch some bluegrass. Not something we normally do, but it was fun! I had a glass of red wine at dinner, but this was my first time really being out and not being allowed to drink. I was tired, and wished I could have another drink or two to loosen up and have fun with everyone, but it was still a good time.

Yesterday, we got invited to a friends house for dinner. They were grilling hot dogs and brats. Obviously, not really great for you at all. But they said we should bring whatever, so I made up some really lean hamburger patties and got some whole wheat buns and we grilled those too, so I could eat a little better. I just ate small amounts of the side dishes she made. It was really fun. They have a little baby who is crawling around, so she was fun to play with.

I lost another pound over the weekend, haven't weighed myself today, but so far 11.5 lbs down. I may have said that in the last post, I can't remember. :)

So here is my speech for those interested. (The last paragraph was what they needed me to say to start the part where people give money, lol) Oh, and I know I will hear about it if I don't give her her royalties, so my friend Sarah helped me with A LOT of editing. Thanks Sarah!

Prior to a month ago, my experience with St. Mary's Medical Center was limited to several waiting room visits for my accident prone boyfriend. I really didn’t know much about the hospital or their facilities, and couldn’t imagine I would need to. Exactly one month ago today, that all changed.

I woke up on February 3rd with a fierce upper back pain unlike anything I've felt before. I didn’t know what was causing it, but luckily I listened to my body and went to the St. Mary’s Emergency Room. I was quickly admitted and seen by the doctor who didn't dismiss any of my symptoms, as I felt several physicians had over the years. As much as I hoped it was just a muscle pain, they wanted to be safe and promptly performed an EKG. As it turned out, I was having a heart attack at age 25.

Everyone sprang into action after seeing the abnormal EKG. I was moved and hooked up to monitors and immediately taken for a MRI. They sent me into the cardiac cath lab to have two stents placed in my right coronary artery. I was terrified. The staff in the cath lab was there to talk to me about what was going on and did their best to put me at ease. They spoke to me the entire time and also kept my family informed about my progress. They never gave me the chance to think anything other than that I was going to be okay. I had no idea St. Mary’s had the technology they do. The cath lab was state of the art and I never doubted the care I was receiving. It’s hard to believe, but even after having a heart attack the staff had me laughing.

I spent two more days at St. Mary's and experienced multiple nurses and doctors. They were there for everything I needed. As shocked as everyone was to walk into a heart patient’s room and see a 25 year old female, they were great about explaining my condition. They not only took care of me physically, but prepared me for the emotional journey ahead. The healthcare team was there to answer all of my questions and concerns. The communication between patient, nurse, doctor, and staff was something to be extremely proud of.

Cardiac rehab visited me in my room, showed me a video, and educated me on exactly what happened in my body and the changes I should make in my life to get better. They shared with me the importance of rehab and how they would get me on track to a long healthy life. I’ve been participating in their program for two weeks now, and feel like I am gaining the knowledge to take control over my heart disease. For the first time in my life, I look forward to a workout, and am already seeing the progress that a healthy lifestyle can provide. They have made me feel so comfortable, and I know that they genuinely care. The cardiac staff is only giving me the option for success.

I finally feel in control of my health and am excited about the future I can have. I am gaining the tools to live a full and active life, despite having heart disease at such a young age. I cannot thank St. Mary’s enough for giving me so much hope for my future.

This hospital saved my life and now I feel like I have another family and support team. We are so fortunate to have St. Mary’s Medical Center in our community to handle unique & critical situations like mine. For them to be able to provide these kinds of services, they must have vital state of the art equipment to be able to treat patients with the highest quality of care…like they did for me. I am asking each of you to consider making a gift to the fund-a-need tonight and to help make it possible for St. Mary’s to continue their quality & compassionate care.

Some pics from the night...