Valve replacement and High cholesterol

[Chrisandgary]

Hi! My husband Gary had the Ross procedure 9/97 for AVR and had a mechanical St.Judes 10/00 because the Ross failed. At his last 2 6 month checks his cholesterol has been climbing and the doctor has threatened to put him on lipitor if it has not gone down.
He is on coumadin and 1 baby aspirin - we are not big pill poppers and were upset over the coumadin for life issue. I really do not want him to be on another drug.
My hubby is very set in his ways - eats a lot of pizza and high cholesterol foods - I am getting no where trying to change his eating habits and we have 4 young children so I really dont have a lot of menu planning or recipe trying time. (I did attempt oatmeal muffins - they came out like sponges!)
Any suggestions??? He is only 35 and too young for high cholesterol.

Thanks!
Christine
Westchester County, NY

 

[Nancy]

Hi Christine-

Welcome to this terrific site. It's a fine place to get so much information about living with valve problems. You'll love it here.

Sorry to hear about your husband's cholesterol problems. It's pretty tough when you are faced with some life changes involving stuff like what you eat.

My husband is on an extremely low sodium diet because he has congestive heart failure. He didn't want this condition, and he certainly didn't want to have to eat for the rest of his life without salt, but in December, he almost lost his life when his CHF and pulmonary hypertension and several other of his heart related problems all converged and decompensated at once. He had to spend a month in the hospital to get things on an even keel. He takes 14 medications per day, some more than once. But they are what is keeping him alive and he wants to live and I want him to as well.

So now he can have very little sodium. I'm having to learn to be creative in cooking so he has nutritious and good tasting meals. It's a struggle.

If he had his druthers, he'd much rather live without medications and eat everything he wants, but that's not how things turned out. Tough choices, tough life for him.

Life dealt him lots of lemons and we're trying to make lemon meringue pie with them.

I guess you do what you have to do. Life just isn't fair for some folks.

There is a whole board here of people who have had to make lifestyle changes in order to have a life.

I wish you all the best, and know that you both will find a way to work with his medical conditions.

Take care.

 

[LUVMyBirman]

Any chance your husband is taking a beta blocker? That is when my elevated cholesteral came into play.

 

[MelissaM]

Hi Christine - welcome to the site!

I know nothing about the relationship between coumadin and cholesterol, but do know a stubborn member of my family who will not change his eating habits, despite having cholesterol problems. Sigh. I think sometimes it DOES take an event like near-death for some people to take their eating habits seriously! The bottom line is that your husband has to decide for himself that eating more healthy is a priority. The best you can do is let him know that you will support him IF and WHEN he decides that is a priority. It seems very few men respond to cajoling and high-pressure approaches to this sort of thing. . .

Best of luck! Melissa

 

[sylviayasgur]

hi christine!
i'm sorry you are going through this with your husband. must be so frustrating trying to get him to eat well when he doesn't want to. can't say i blame him though.
my father has a st.jude's, had double bypass, has high cholesterol and takes coumadin,lipitor, and other heart meds.
they just found that his liver enzymes are a bit elevated, possibly because of the lipitor.
he watches every piece of food that goes into his mouth_ he is the MOST disciplined person i know. still, it makes no difference if he watches what he eats_ his cholesterol remains pretty much the same.

my brother, on the other hand, only has very high cholesterol and is extremely physically fit.
he has tried several diets (severe, pritikin like) and has actually lowered his cholesterol about 30 points!!

i don't know why it works for some and not others.
i feel badly that it is a struggle for you. a friend of ours (not to frighten you) recently passed away, because, as his wife puts it: "he wanted to live life while he was alive". he rarely watched what he ate/drank although he had heart issues.

i hope things work out well for you. please keep coming back and letting us know how things are going.
all the best, sylvia

 

[ccrawford]

Hi Christine - I'm an AVR/single bypass with high cholesterol. Currently taking Lipitor. Lipitor can have some side effects but so far, mine aren't too bad, in fact I cannot definitively blame them on Lipitor. I was on Zocor, which caused some leg cramps, but, here again, they weren't too bad. Sorry your muffins turned out funny - better try again. The single best source I have found for Cholesterol information and action plans is a book entitled "The 8 week Cholesterol Cure" by Robert E. Kowalski. It may be out of print now but I'm sure you can find it on Barnes and Noble, or one of the other booksellers with an on line search function. Kowalski has a lot of useful information in the book including a bunch of recipies. He firmly beleives that dieting should not be a painful proocess and that you should not leave the table hungry. If you can find time to experiment with these recipies, then Gary will be well on the way towards controlling what can be a very dangerous problem. Bypass surgery is not fun, and my leg is still a lot more tender than my chest. Good luck. If I can answer more questions, don't be bashful. Chris PS Gary needs to spend some time reading stuff on this site, or getting educated about his risks somewhere. If he's not interested, then its a major problem.

 

[JimL]

Try this link for the cholesterol book:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/104-9522661-8503108?v=glance&s=books

 

[fyrfytr]

Hi Christine,
I also want to Welcome you to this WONDERFUL Site. I also have high cholesterol and have tried to control it with diet. It didn't work for me and I am on Zocor. The Zocor is working for me without any side effects so far. I am like Chris, if your husband won't change some of his habits it is going to be hard to do it yourself. Good Luck and I hope things work out for the Best.

Dave
_________________________
Surgery: 4/21/03
Aortic Aneurysm Repair
AVR, with a St. Jude Mechanical

 

[ccrawford]

Christine - I've been thinking about this (and that's dangerous). I'd give gary every chance to buy into participating in his health recovery ------------ and then, If he's not with the program. You got it - Switch to the devious mode ! You know what I'm talking about. The only food that gets served in the household is____ you got it ! The only stuff in the pantry to snack on is _____ you got it. I could go on into personal stuff, but you can figure it out. Good luck dear ! Chris

 

[Chrisandgary]

Thank you all!

Thank you all!

Thank you guys! I am printing all of your advice for him to read. It is a struggle because he too just wants to live life, eat, drink and be happy and die happy. On the other hand I know he'd like to see grandchildren some day. He is just a stubborn big boy. I may have to get devious!!

Thank you all again!
Christine