Well, its been a while since I posted on this!
This last year has been a bit of a rollercoaster for both of us. Our weights rocketed, Doofus went up to 295.6, and mine to 275. That was our highest weights on 1st January 2018. Doofus is currently 277.6 and I am 240.4
We have tried many diets this last year, from the kidney function diet (due to Doofus’s kidney function dropping to 17% because of the diuretics for heart failure), the Pioppi diet which we loved the idea of but it didnt help at all, and we tried Keto after watching ‘The Magic Pill’ movie. Both of us felt very unhealthy and not well at all, full of aches and pains, my fibro attacks were still getting worse and we were struggling to control Doofus’s fluid levels. 120mg of furosemide TWICE a day, with occasional use of Metolazone when the furosemide wasn’t working. Add numerous gout attacks to that, dizziness and falls, and enormous amounts of medication, life was pretty hopeless. As much as they didnt say it, it felt like the Heart Function Clinic was just going through the motions with not a lot that could be done, just managing things, and barely at that, while Doofus waits for yet another appointment for the Atrial Fibrillation Specialist. He has also had a stent put in which did make a huge difference in his colour, but little improvement beyond that. They were supposed to put in two, but decided on one as the second was at an awkward junction of a vein in the heart. He also had a MUGA test – his ejection fraction rate is 37%, 2% above the requirement for a device. So basically left to struggle on for the sake of 2%.
At the beginning of September 2018, we went for a trip to visit family in Kelowna and Doofus was very ill indeed, filling up with fluid so much I could hear his voice changing with it. We came back on Thursday 6th September and his weight was 285. It had taken all year to lose 10lb. Feeling very ill and dejected, he sat down in front of the tv and decided to go back to the plant based eating, which was probably the last time we both felt in any way healthier, and we re-watched the download of Forks Over Knives. That was the game changer!
Doofus found a couple new movies featuring Drs Esselstyn and Campbell, ‘In Defense of Food’ and ‘What the Health’, and then ‘H.O.P.E. – What You Eat Matters’. This truly was the moment our lives changed. We decided then and there this was how we had to be living, and the very next day we took the plunge. I am not going to call it vegan, as its beyond vegan, with no oil, nuts and avocados for heart patients, its a way of Living. Literally as the movie title says – Eating YOU alive.
These movies gave us hope, and Doofus ordered Dr Esselstynes Preventing and Reversing Heart Disease book, and the matching cookbook. I emptied every kitchen cupboard and gave away 8 bags of groceries and condiments – basically anything that had sugar and oil in it and everything processed. We started that next morning and have never looked back. Luckily, over the last year I have accumulated a number of cookbooks, including the Forks Over Knives one, and the FOK Plan. Add that to the Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook and I have a pretty good arsenal of recipes. Our weight since the 6th September has dropped steadily, Doofus’s fluid levels have gone down without the extra medication, his blood results have improved rapidly and he is feeling better than he has in a year. My fibro pain has all but disappeared with the clean eating. There is a lot more food preparation to be done, and I am doing more batch cooking and freezing, ideal for days i work and healthy lunches, and I am loving Jane Esselstynes youtube videos from the cookbook! The thai curry is one of our regular go to’s! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkVtuE3WR0NhNnDiP5d_pAA
Weight updates and food thoughts to follow.
Yesterday I remembered we had started this blog over a year ago, and now we are finally serious about it, and not pissing about just giving it lip service, I figured it was time to record things properly, so here it is. Our update and I will try faithfully to log what happens from here on in!
Doofus and Dory 