Had a heart attack yesterday, other than that happy new year

Rakesh Jacob

Rakesh Jacob

Veteran
Yep a heart attack yesterday morning.
I've been diabetic for almost a decade, havnt been to the doctor in over 2 decades. I've had synptoms for about 10 years is how I know. I also used to be in the medical field so I'm familliar with the disease. The first couple of years I was in denial cause I was just losing weight, drinking a lot of water and peeing a lot. But hey I was losing weight!
Couple years ago I my feet started getting numb, last year I satrted getting sharp shooting pains in my feet. I tried to change my own diet, I wanted to workout but... well you know how that goes.
Also found out that I was severly hypertensive. My BP was 164/105 when I came in yesterday :( I didnt know about that. When they say hypertension is the silent killer, they mean it!

So I guess this is what I need. A mild version of the worst possible thing to finally change my life. Damn I love food. I mean really, really love food. I think a clean break is the best thing. Food is no longer gonna be a source of pleasure, comfort or diversion. From now on I eat to live, I no longer live to eat.

I feel stupid, lazy and horrible about myself. I am a weak and selfish jackass. I hate myself for putting my friends and family through this. I will do what I have to do to never come anywhere close to leaving this planet in such an assanine and completely avoidable manner again.

Rakesh
 
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I feel for you. It seems that I'm about the only one in my family that isn't overweight, have diabetes, or cancer. My brother had a heart attack last year - got me worried about myself. But, similar denial thing for me... I hate doctors & hospitals. Haven't seen one in decades.

Eat right my friend... wear glasses if you need them.
 
Get better and please stay healthy, Rakesh. A lot of people, including me, love your work. We are expecting to see a lot more of it.
 
Dude, trust me when I say you are not alone. It is something that is so easy to rationalize while you are in the midst of it. It's incremental.

I know that you feel dumb about this, but don't be too hard on yourself. Focus on what helps. You are worth taking care of. That's a lot easier to do when you see the value in what you are doing. It can be a good thing to be pissed about your behavior. Just use it wisely.

Be well.
 
Definitely feel for you, Rakesh. According to the doctors, I too, had a heart attack. The weird thing is, I don't know when it was. It was a "silent" attack.

I really don't like going to the doctor, either. Funny, I was in the medical field for quite awhile too.

Take it easy, relax, do what the medicos tell you.
 
Well rest up and get better. Well you know what you have to do. You will feel better after you do. My goal this year is to eat healthy and work out more it is not easy because I'm lazy and like food too.

Get better and start filming.
 
You know the axiom; what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I am glad you are alive & already listening to your body to change for better, however,

Food is no longer gonna be a source of pleasure, comfort or diversion. From now on I eat to live, I no longer live to eat.
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This is the mindset you need to change as well. Eating healthy can be a source of pleasure, and those who follow healthy lifestyles cook very tasty meals.

Cutting sugar doesn't mean you cant have sweets.
The concern is not fat, it is the choice of fat & oil you make.

It is simple, hey anybody that can read a camera manual can easily master nutritional knowledge too ;) Healing with whole foods is the key.

Start here:
http://whfoods.org/

A recommended cooking book:(Check the sample recipes, does it sound boring to you?)
http://www.amazon.com/Whole-Life-Nu...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262543281&sr=1-2
 
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I'm glad you're going to be alright.

I have family who are diabetic but have turned their health around thru diet and excersice.
You're not alone.

Take care,
 
Rakesh Jacob said:
.....blah blah

I feel stupid, lazy and horrible about myself. I am a weak and selfish jackass. I hate myself blah blah...
Rakesh
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You can make this right by donating your 7d and lenses to....let say to me in the event of your death !

I'll pm you my info later this evening so we can sort out the paperwork.
Happy New Year to all !

Honestly Im glad youre still part of the Dvxuser :beer:
 
Rakesh Jacob said:
Yep a heart attack yesterday morning.
I've been diabetic for almost a decade, havnt been to the doctor in over 2 decades. I've had synptoms for about 10 years is how I know. I also used to be in the medical field so I'm familliar with the disease. The first couple of years I was in denial cause I was just losing weight, drinking a lot of water and peeing a lot. But hey I was losing weight!
Couple years ago I my feet started getting numb, last year I satrted getting sharp shooting pains in my feet. I tried to change my own diet, I wanted to workout but... well you know how that goes.
Also found out that I was severly hypertensive. My BP was 164/105 when I came in yesterday :( I didnt know about that. When they say hypertension is the silent killer, they mean it!

So I guess this is what I need. A mild version of the worst possible thing to finally change my life. Damn I love food. I mean really, really love food. I think a clean break is the best thing. Food is no longer gonna be a source of pleasure, comfort or diversion. From now on I eat to live, I no longer live to eat.

I feel stupid, lazy and horrible about myself. I am a weak and selfish jackass. I hate myself for putting my friends and family through this. I will do what I have to do to never come anywhere close to leaving this planet in such an assanine and completely avoidable manner again.

Rakesh
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thank goodness you are okay after the heart attack. i'm in the same boat you are with having an unhealthy lifestyle. i've never had a heart attack, but a couple of weeks ago my blood pressure got up to 190/110. i really need to take better care of myself, change my diet, and start exercising.

perhaps we should have some sort of weight loss challenge.
 
Glad to hear you are on the road to recovery. I had a close call last year, it was a real wake up call. Do what makes you happy, take care of those that care for you and everything works out in the end.
 
OK, another of my patented "hard-won pieces of wisdom". Your reaction - self-loathing etc. is natural. It is also a killer. It is what causes people to give up. "I've already fallen off the wagon, what the hell, what's the use". That's how we stop exercising, eating right etc. - because inevitably we fail on some occasion, and from there, we thrown in the towel... as a result of self-disgust.

Here's my hard-won piece of advice: it's not the failing we need to worry about... because except for saints, we will inevitably fail at some point or another - that's a 100% given certainty. What we need to do after failing is get right back on the horse. Stop beating yourself up for something that happens to every singly human being on this earth - you made mistakes.

1)You will continue to make mistakes - for the rest of your life. Just like everybody.

BUT what separates the winners from the losers:

2)You will continue to get up after every mistake and get back with the program. You will do that as often as it takes - as often as you fail. Dozens of times. Hundreds of times. Perhaps thousands of times. BUT YOU KEEP GETTING UP.

So: stop blaming yourself - that's just another self-pity party. Do the right thing - get up. Make a diet and exercise plan - perhaps with a qualified nutritionist. And then keep hacking at it. NEVER GIVE UP. Because you only fail - really fail - when you give up - for whatever reason. Never give up.

Glad you are still around - and good luck, and happy new year!
 
Glad you're doing better. My dad has had two of them, The last one, he fell out on the streets of New York with a Burger King Bag in his hand and almost died. He's had triple bypass and now he's good to go. It's tough when you love something that in abundance could kill you. Cigarettes were my thing, now they are not. Good luck and stay healthy.
 
OldCorpse said:
1)You will continue to make mistakes - for the rest of your life. Just like everybody.

BUT what separates the winners from the losers:

2)You will continue to get up after every mistake and get back with the program. You will do that as often as it takes - as often as you fail. Dozens of times. Hundreds of times. Perhaps thousands of times. BUT YOU KEEP GETTING UP.
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Very good advice. Many people get stuck in this all or nothing mentality, so when they fall off the wagon and indulge once, it sets a spiral in motion where they say screw it, I've already succumbed, might as well go all the way and binge. If you want long term success, just do it in moderation. One donut is okay, as long as you don't eat ten more right after. You'll lose weight more slowly, and you may never look like Brad Pitt, but chances are you'll at least get to a healthier weight and be able to maintain it.
 
WOW THNX EVERYONE!!!!
I wish I could type each one of you a personal response. The advice, encouragement and even offer for adopting my video equipment (Everts) is greatly appreciated.

I got back home 9pm Wed night. I had to ge by walmart to pick up prescriptions and glucose monitoring stuff. Boy that trip sucked. I had to sit down often and I'm sure I looked insane having just walked out of the hospital. I felt like little children were asking they're parents "mommy what's wrong with him?" I didn't really have bad shortness of breath, I think I was just weak from being in bed 5 days and that was a lot of walking. Yesterday I did much better, had to go back to replace all my death inducing poison with produce, lots and lots of produce (I need to find a Wholefoods, Walmart is a horrible palce for food). I also did some light housework.
I stuck my self 6 times yesterday to make sure my new diet and glucose meds were working together well. Didn't quit lock it in so today is gonna be another day of many sticks. Things will be better today, but I'm gonna have to keep sticking myself daily multiple times to make sure I'm controlling my sugar and figure out how my body reacts to specific foods. But that's ok. This was one of my big fears and why I didn't wanna go to the doctor, I just didn't want to deal with finger sticks and insulin shots. I know there are many out there who share this fear. BUT- let me tell you IT IS NO BIG DEAL! Finger sticks are easy, pulling a hair out hurts worse. Would you NOT be willing to pull a single strand of hair out a couple times a day if that's what stood between life and death?
Luckily I don't have to take insulin shots but I had them every three ours along with my finger sticks in the hospital. I know every one freaks out about this because you have to do it in the arm or stomach. And if you have to do it yourself, it will most likely be in the stomach since it's easy to self inject there. BOY DID THAT SOUND LIKE WTF to me and was a huge mental block to seeking treatment for my diabetes. Let me assure you they hurt waaayyyyy less than even the finger sticks! Half the time I couldn't even feel them going in. There just isn't enough density of nerve endings in your belly to register the tiny needle as pain.
So if any of you are diabetic or think you might be diabetic, please do youreslf, your friends and especially your families a huge favor and go see a doctor.

Unfortunately I'm not out of the woods yet. I'm actually deep in the woods in a small clearing trying to regroup. Statistically I am at great risk for another heart attack that would be much bigger and drop me dead! My docs really wanted to do a cardiac cath and get in there and do some angioplasty and stenting if I needed it; trust me they would have found places where I needed it. I refused and pissed of my cardiologist, attending physician and most of the nurses in the ICU. Honestly that path is not one I want to walk down. I don't want invasive procedures, they just lead to more and more invassive interventions. They keep you alive just long enough to go back to the hospital later.
I have chosen to go completely natural. Diet and exercise baby! As of this moment I am vegan, but it's not terrible hard for me. I am Indian and grew up with a mostly plant based diet and love my veggies. I just used to be too lazy to cook my own food and McDonalds has a poor vegan selection.
On January 31st I'm going to a Lifestyle center for an 18 day program where they teach you how to live and be healthy naturally and I am looking forward to it. I have allready started down the path and technically now that my blood pressure is under control, my blood glucose is almost under control and my diet is plant based, I am healthier now than before I had my heart attack. Whatever heart tissue I lost because of it will grow back, whatever cardiovascular issue that caused this will right itself as long as I'm willing to give my body what it needs, plenty of excercise and plant based nutrition. I am excited! I have been craving this change for a long time now. I have been way too sick for way too long. THANK GOD FOR MY HEART ATTACK :)

I love you guys!
Rakesh
 
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I'm going to a Lifestyle center for an 18 day program where they teach you how to live and be healthy naturally and I am looking forward to it. I have allready started down the path and technically now that my blood pressure is under control, my blood glucose is almost under control and my diet is plant based, I am healthier now than before I had my heart attack. Whatever heart tissue I lost because of it will grow back, whatever cardiovascular issue that caused this will right itself as long as I'm willing to give my body what it needs, plenty of excercise and plant based nutrition. I am excited! I have been craving this change for a long time now. I have been way too sick for way too long. THANK GOD FOR MY HEART ATTACK
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Excellent news, very inspiring! As for the wholefoods market in Houston, I found 4 in Houston( and this is just one name):
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/
 
I hate not being healthy too. If I can make myself eat cauliflower for my hyperthyroidism (stuff is gross) then you can make some adjustments. I'll eat what I should but doesn't mean I have to like it.

Recovery is a step here and there, don't try to be 'it' all at once.
 
Hang in there and do what it takes to get better. We all love your work and the world needs more talent, not less.

As my Father always says, "If you don't have your health, you don't have anything."
 
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