SVT: The Thorn in my Flesh

The highest HR this device
could read on me.
At > 200, it gave an error.
Normal HR=60-90

Do you know what it feels like to have all these things in your mind that you want to do, and your body, your heart can't take it?

What's SVT? Supra ventricular tachycardia. It's these episodes where your heart beats so fast (in my case, in the 200s) that you can see and feel it jumping in your chest. And you usually have some chest tightness, shortness of breath and lightheadedness with it. You could even pass out. For days after, one could feel sapped of all energy. And it can be dangerous but so far, God has been good. People have had heart attacks from it. With my medication and a certain bearing down maneuver that we call the valsalva, I am able to break an episode without calling 911, at least not since the first one when I ended up in the ER two and half years ago.

But it's that thing among a few others that stops me from being the superwoman I want to be in my head. The one that doesn't allow me to juggle wife, mother, MD, author, blogger, mentor as well as I would like. I know how Apostle Paul felt when he spoke about the thorn in his flesh that God didn't take away.

But I don't write this for pity. I write it to encourage others that they are not alone in dealing with health problems and limiting factors in their bodies. The good thing is this. My soul and my spirit are untouchable. And the joy of The Lord which is my strength makes me sing this morning as I get over an episode, "I'm reaping the harvest God promised me. Take back what the devil stole from me. And I rejoice today. I shall recover it all." As you can see in the 2nd HR (heart rate) reading below, my HR is back to normal.

Sing with me. God is good. Will work on getting that ablation to fix the SVT (where they burn off the extra nerves in the heart firing abnormally) and pray it succeeds. The devil has stolen a lot more than my health from my family this year but we cling unto God in faith because it is well with our souls.

Any type of heart disease is no joke. Author Dee Stewart recently died at my age after a decade of battling heart failure from peripartum cardiomyopathy. May her sould RIP. 

What thorn do you have in your flesh that you are pushing through?



Blessings.

Folake. 



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Weight: The Big Elephant in the Room...

Now, why will I go and put my foot in my mouth and talk about weight? Let me start off by clarifying that skinny does not equal beautiful by any means. Now that we have cleared that up, are we so scared of offending our friends and loved ones that we possibly cannot talk about weight issues though? I was in this situation recently and while not being mean or insensitive, consciously sticking to purely medical facts and steering away from words such as 'beauty' and 'pretty' and 'attractive' which are purely subjective, I managed to make my point. But should it be so hard?

There was a debate on the wall of one of my facebook friends sparked by a comment on Oscar night about how Gabourey Sidibe (from Precious) needed to shed a few pounds. And while it was probably not the time to talk about that since it was a day for her to be celebrated even though she did not win the Oscar, I had to stay true to myself and my belief and the MD in me on my stance about weight and health.

Unfortunately, it appeared that the media had really flogged that storyline recently, unbeknown to me since I have too busy to watch much TV lately! I in no way subscribe to the brutal way the media tears people apart...I just happen to be an MD. In the US, being an MD means you constantly have to deal with weight issues on a daily basis with patients, even if God blessed you with the metabolism of a child! (Wishful thinking.)

Patients come to me all day long and swear up and down that they have tried everything to lose weight and it hasn't worked. Yet upon further questioning, these same people drink sodas everyday, sugar-laden juice, eat out at fast food restaurants regularly, cannot get enough sweet tea to drink, etc. So who are you really fooling? While there truly are people who have tried everything with no result, they are not as many as the people who claim that to be the problem. And for such, there is the option of weight loss medicine to jump-start the weight loss and even possibly bariartric intervention. But ultimately, the only measure that is going to keep the weight off is a lifestyle change. There is no quick fix to losing weight. Sorry, no short cuts here!

Having recently lost a considerable amount of weight myself (approximately 35 pounds=a 50 point drop in total cholesterol) and able to maintain it by day to day discipline, I know it is possible. It is not easy but if you are motivated, and you do not have endocrine problems such as thyroid disorder or mental health issues such as depression which make you eat for comfort, it can be done. You just need to put your heart to it. And if you have those problems, please do get medical help as it just goes downhill from there otherwise.

If your motivation for weight loss is purely to look good or better and be acceptable to people, then we need to work on your self esteem. Hit me up on that...lol. But if you are doing it to be healthy and to avoid hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, obtructive sleep apnea, obesity hypoventialtion syndrome, early arthritis, etc, then you are on the right track.

I do not subscribe to any fancy diet. I would rather take a few tips here and there from several diet programs if need be (you can walk into Borders and read parts of these books!). But if you pay attention to your body, you can figure out what makes you add weight or not. Eat your fruits and vegetables; drink water, smoothies and 100% juices from the refrigerator and not the isles; eat whole grain; cut back on dairy and definitely not whole milk and the likes and if you can, exercise. Eat small frequest meals 3 to 5 times a day is what I recommend or 3 meals and 2 snacks. Snacks should be a banana or an apple and not cookies and the likes preferably. Remember, the 300 calorioes you burn on a treadmill does not give you the license to stop by starbucks on your way back home to eat a muffin and some coffee with more calories in it than you just burned. And if you cannot exercise (most women!), you'd better work on what goes in you because as long as you take in more or equal to what you are able to burn daily, there will be no weight loss.

As a Christian, I am a firm believer that watching what goes into our bodies is part of treating our bodies like the temple of the Lord!

I have a chapter on Nutrition, Exercise, Weight and Health in my book The Only Way is Up. Pick up your copy today!

Please leave your comments and feel free to disagree with me.