Friday, July 04, 2003
Why should I have a diary about heart failure? Well, I'm younger, better educated, and more articulate than many people with this disease, so I guess I feel a little noblesse oblige, to communicate to others stuff your doctor may not have mentioned, or not in plain English, anyway, and also, of course, misery loves company.
I'm 49. I have no family history of heart failure, and none of the common indicators. I don't smoke; my high blood pressure has been under adequate control for years with medication; while I've been overweight, I've never been obese; I don't have diabetes. I don't have coronary artery disease. What I have is idiopathic cardiomyopathy, and an ejection fraction of 20%, which hasn't improved at all even after 6 months of the state-of-the-art medication regimen. I just got a pacemaker (or more accurately, a defibrillator that happens to be a pacemaker) three weeks ago today.
I hope to tell you about medical research I've read, about my experience with the pacemaker, about learning to live with a low-sodium diet, and so on. You'll also get side notes about my pets, my motorcycle, my reading habits, and my other health issues- doesn't that sound like fun?
For now, it's the Fourth of July. Let's put in a low-sodium picnic recipe.
Low-Sodium Three-Bean Salad.
one can NSA (No Salt Added) black beans, drained and rinsed.
one can NSA garbanzo beans (a/k/a chickpeas), drained and rinsed.
one can NSA string beans (a/k/a green beans), drained and rinsed.
One small white onion.
A handful of cilantro- or parsley if you can't stand cilantro. Out of a 25 cent bunch of cilantro, I use about 1/4 of the bunch for this, but you may want less.
One each green, red, and yellow bell peppers.
Sugar
Vinegar
Throw all the beans into a bowl. Chop the onion into small pieces and add it; chop the cilantro or parsley leaves into small pieces and add them. Slice peppers and remove all seeds and stems and pith, then chop them into squares, and throw them in the bowl, too. Now sprinkle two to three heaping tablespoons of sugar onto the mixture, and toss thoroughly, till you can't see the sugar any more. Pour about 1/2 cup of vinegar - good salad vinegar or red wine vinegar works best - over this; place a secure lid over the bowl, and refrigerate for at least two hours to let the flavors blend. It's even better if you can can let it chill overnight; if you think of it, a couple of times turn the bowl over to redistribute the vinegar and then put it back to marinate. Serve cold; serves six to 8 people, and my experience is that even people who aren't on a low-sodium diet will like this.
If cans of NSA food aren't available where you are, here's one on-line source:
Healthy Heart Market
I'm 49. I have no family history of heart failure, and none of the common indicators. I don't smoke; my high blood pressure has been under adequate control for years with medication; while I've been overweight, I've never been obese; I don't have diabetes. I don't have coronary artery disease. What I have is idiopathic cardiomyopathy, and an ejection fraction of 20%, which hasn't improved at all even after 6 months of the state-of-the-art medication regimen. I just got a pacemaker (or more accurately, a defibrillator that happens to be a pacemaker) three weeks ago today.
I hope to tell you about medical research I've read, about my experience with the pacemaker, about learning to live with a low-sodium diet, and so on. You'll also get side notes about my pets, my motorcycle, my reading habits, and my other health issues- doesn't that sound like fun?
For now, it's the Fourth of July. Let's put in a low-sodium picnic recipe.
Low-Sodium Three-Bean Salad.
one can NSA (No Salt Added) black beans, drained and rinsed.
one can NSA garbanzo beans (a/k/a chickpeas), drained and rinsed.
one can NSA string beans (a/k/a green beans), drained and rinsed.
One small white onion.
A handful of cilantro- or parsley if you can't stand cilantro. Out of a 25 cent bunch of cilantro, I use about 1/4 of the bunch for this, but you may want less.
One each green, red, and yellow bell peppers.
Sugar
Vinegar
Throw all the beans into a bowl. Chop the onion into small pieces and add it; chop the cilantro or parsley leaves into small pieces and add them. Slice peppers and remove all seeds and stems and pith, then chop them into squares, and throw them in the bowl, too. Now sprinkle two to three heaping tablespoons of sugar onto the mixture, and toss thoroughly, till you can't see the sugar any more. Pour about 1/2 cup of vinegar - good salad vinegar or red wine vinegar works best - over this; place a secure lid over the bowl, and refrigerate for at least two hours to let the flavors blend. It's even better if you can can let it chill overnight; if you think of it, a couple of times turn the bowl over to redistribute the vinegar and then put it back to marinate. Serve cold; serves six to 8 people, and my experience is that even people who aren't on a low-sodium diet will like this.
If cans of NSA food aren't available where you are, here's one on-line source:
Healthy Heart Market
