The treatment is as simple as taking blood pressure medicine
and water pills to push out the excess fluid buildup. Unfortunately, the doctor
put me on atenolol, a common blood pressure medicine. It normally works pretty
well for most people, but it swelled me up even more and I put on 25 pounds in
about 6 weeks. My feet looked like something floating over a Thanksgiving day
parade. I was swollen all the way up through my thighs it was so bad.
So she took me off atenolol and put me on a water pill. I
didn’t know this, but not only will a water pill help to eject the fluid build-up
from edema, but they also make a pretty good blood pressure pill substitute.
They take out excess fluid from around the heart too. I lost the 25 pounds
(though not overnight), and my feet look like feet again. I still have some
swelling in my legs which you can easily see when I take my socks off. There’s
that telltale ring-around-the-ankles look. But overall I’ve been feeling much
better.
I still get tired some days, but not like I used to. I think
a lot of this may be tied into diet. I used to eat a ton of lunchmeat sandwiches
and fast foods. I started eating more fresh meat, mostly pork steaks and chops
along with baked potatoes, egg beater, oranges, apples, green beans, peas &
carrots, and corn. Yes, there are leaner cuts than chops and pork steaks, but I
like them, and pork cooks easily in the microwave. This past week I went back
to my old lunchmeat and fast food ways and started feeling very tired right
away. I mean REAL tired just like before. A lot of it may have to do with all
the salt they put in lunchmeats. Well, no more of that.
Some of my tiredness may be the result of working too hard
also. I can put in a hard day, but then I’m dead for the next two or three. The
doctor says that I also cannot exercise strenuously. Absolutely no weight
lifting or hard basketball playing until my heart gets back to normal—if it
gets back to normal. Even if the enlarged chamber doesn’t shrink all the way down,
I may still live to be ninety. However, I may never be able to play sports
again. It’s true what the say—it’s hell getting old.
The good news is that my eBook formatting business is doing
well. I’ve been able to cut down on my other job and sit at home one or two
days per week working on books. I hope to do it full-time one day, or something
like it. What I should really do is write the great American novel and never
work again!
I'll leave you with my masterpiece (perhaps one day I'll say it and mean it!), Eleanor Rigby played on acoustic guitar with a Boomerang looper pedal. You can see I had already gained a lot of weight a couple of years ago in this video. My face is like a giant walnut. But I get more response from this video than any other I've ever upload. 229 thumbs up and counting! Perhaps I should don some fat man attire and take my act on the road....
