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About the cover:
Until one experiences a cardio vascular
incident, one may not be fully aware that much of the actionable care and
feeding of our heart is in our own hands. This book is about one person’s
journey to successfully take charge of the care of the muscles of his
heart.
Chapter
Table-of-Contents
Prologue
1 A Clean, New Awakening
2 Heart Mechanics 101 &
Cholesterol Arterial Warfare
on the Heart
3 Lifestyle-setting Attitude
Perspective: The Energy
Utility for All Cells
4 Remainder of the Hospital
Experience –
Questioning Attack Causes
5 Hospital Orders on Medication,
Diet, & Exercise
6 At Home With A MuscleCare
Nursing Specialist
7 An Accidental Stress Test
8 First Follow-up Visit
9 Cardio Rehab
10 Devising A Stress Alleviation
Program -- The Missing
Third Prong of a Heart
Healthy
Lifestyle
11 Good
News from Dr Benjamin
12 Primary Care Wrap-up
13 The Scarred Muscles of
Dick Cheney
14 On Mortality & God of The
Universe
15 Ode To The Medics
16 A Stressful Interactive Society
17 Politics & Our Hearts
18 Optimum Age To Start A
Calcified & Soft Plaque-free
Lifestyle
19 Fini Remarks & Medication
Troubles
20 Lifestyle Calendar Guide
21 Exercise Guideline Summary
22 Diet Guideline Summary
23 Stress Guideline Summary
Glossary – Whimsical
Definitions of Serious Terms
About Tom Polizzi
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Below: The Muscles of My Heart Prologue in its
entirety.
Prologue
“Time is Muscle!”
I was in no condition to comprehend what
the man who said that was talking about. I was barely aware that I was in a
hospital ER, that a young man with an engaging personality ministered to me
in the ambulance that brought me to the hospital, that I had no
recollection of how or why I was put in the ambulance, and that I had a
frighteningly enormous desire to go to sleep.
I learned later that the man concerned about
muscle was a cardiologist who, at the time when he made the declaration,
had just reviewed the results of tests confirming that I had a blockage in
a major artery that, until it was removed, would cause progressive
destruction of heart muscle. Fortunately, at that point, the possibility of
the heart attack being complicated by a stroke was ruled out.
Surprisingly, I didn’t even know the difference
between a heart attack and a stroke. I do now, and thank God I just had a
heart attack. Yes, “just” is the operative word, for with the absence of
incurring a stroke, the full functioning of my brain was never at risk. But
the serious open question at that time was just how much damage my heart
muscles would suffer before the blockage was removed. And that would
translate into how greatly impaired would be my life – provided I survived the unblocking
procedure.
Thanks to the swift action of my wife in calling
911, the actions of the ambulance medic, and the quick action of the
cardiologist and ER staff, the damage to my heart’s muscle not only was
minimal, but as it turned out, was caught soon enough so that the muscle,
in time, was able to mostly repair itself. I now know precisely why “time
is muscle” when it comes to the affairs of the heart. I also now know how a
vital fuel of life, oxygen, is introduced into the heart, and delivered
with UPS logistical efficiency throughout the body.
Mine is a happy tale that ends
successfully – at least, hopefully, for a few more decades. A most
optimistic expectation because of the lifestyle changes I made both before
and after the heart attack. Changes that were easy to make because they
were accompanied with a purposefully constructive mindset. Thus, believe it
or not, while it took a number of twists and turns, I now relish and enjoy
my new and improved heart healthy lifestyle.
While I feel compelled to tell my tale, and tell
it with almost irreverent flippancy, it is not particularly to talk about
“how to” balance heart (life) safety with competing lifestyle options
(health-challenging temptations). While I’ll adequately cover that, the
value of the tale lies in the addition of a third
prong element to the diet and exercise regimens that define a heart healthy
lifestyle. In the telling of my own story, I introduce an
innovative, individually-tailored Stress Alleviation program that
addresses heart attack risks not covered by diet and exercise programs
alone. Also addressed in separate chapters are the stresses created by the creative
destruction that produced our current Interactive Society, and the
political tribulations of the times.
The result is a complete “how-to” story of how one man lived through
his repairing-of-the-heart and mind experience -- from the time the
cardiologist inserted himself into my heart through my groin, to near the
time when I am expected to be able to give up my dependence on Plavix to
mitigate another attack.
Some disturbing aspects concerning heart attack
risks are discussed with candor, but so are the aggressive preventative
measures that can mitigate triggering these risks. In this tale, such measures
are interwoven with a tale of my heart attack event itself, and the process
of dealing with the physical and emotional damage aftermath. It is a tale
that includes how the support I received from my medical team, family,
friends and casual acquaintances literally brought me back to a vibrant
life beyond the medical sense, and in the process allowed me to achieve a
living of life far more focused than before. A tale that includes how, for
the first time, I was obliged to acknowledge my own mortality. In that
context, I promise you a surprising recitation. One that calls upon
scientific developments built upon Einstein’s achievements, along with the
work of a renowned artistic producer, to bolster the argument for the
existence of a monotheistic God. Fear not, there is no proselytizing, and the case for the
existence of God is restricted to one chapter. But recognizing and dealing
with critical heart-endangering stress is dealt with throughout the book.
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