A Hearts physical strength vs. numbers

"I don't need a number to determine the strength of my heart" is what I posted on Facebook last week while putting in some hard labor in the gym. I say this to myself because I believe in speaking things into existence rather good or bad. The reality is that I do need that number because it determines how long I remain on Losartan, Carvedilol, and Hydrochlorothiazide. Everyday I have to take this medications, but on the same note I need to get down to a clinically acceptable weight so my heart does not have to work so hard. This gets frustrating when I do my part, and my body does not respond as I would like. The doctors can't help me because the medications that they use in their patients for weight-loss could actually relapse me. I can't help, but to wonder if I didn't catch a virus in December would my numbers be normal at this point. That was in the past and everyday I have to do my part as I speak to my heart and tell it to do the same. Yes, I literally speak to my heart. Anyway, my next echocardiogram is on an very important day...Bella's birthday! I can't wait to see how much progress my heart has made in numbers because in my mind it beats strong, but I NEED TO GET OFF THESE MEDS!!!! 


Talk happiness; talk faith; talk health. Say you are well, and all is well with you, and God shall hear your words and make them true.~Ella Wheeler Wilcox
American Author and Poet

Outside heat vs. dry sauna heat

Some people body reacts differently to some medications. I haven't been outside in the heat for awhile since the weather has been pretty comfortable lately, but today I was reminded of something. One of my meds make me so sensitive to the heat. We spent a portion of the day at the park for a birthday party and I wasn't outside for an hour before I start feeling the effect of the heat which I didn't think would be a problem. My body was really screaming for water, and saying "sit your tail down Dolicia". Now the reason why I say this was strange is because I have been hitting the gym lately, and after working out I spend time in the dry sauna room. I don't get that "life is being sucked out of me" feeling when in the sauna like I do outside in the heat. Talking about things that make you go hmmmmmmm........I wonder why whats the difference? At the end of the day isn't heat...heat? My curiosity levels are at max levels right now!

The more difficulties one has to encounter, within and without, the more significant and the higher in inspiration his life will be.~Horace Bushnell

It's Mine...For now!!!

I am late updating, but I went to my followup appointment and got some good news. She confirmed that my EF is at 50%, and stated that it's my normal. I can live with that, and we will see if MY normal increase. I am motivated to be normal 55-60% and healthier than any point of my life. So I am eating live foods, and exercising at the gym to accomplish my goals. I can't stop, and I won't stop!!!!



"So long as there is a breath in me, that long will I persist. If I persist long enough, I will win."~Og mandino

The Hamster test..

On Thursday afternoon I successfully completed my stress test. They got my heart rate up to 150 by making me run after walking for about 8-9 mins. Man when he said run seconds later I felt like I just wasn't going to make it. My heart rate quickly increased and the treadmill portion was completed. After the treadmill I had to sit on another machine that takes still shots of the heart. My followup appt is on Tuesday so I can provide a bit more detail at that time. Today the tech did tell me that it looks good and I am at 50% again. Til next week!!!!!!

No hamster today.....

Today, I was scheduled for Stress Test, however the machine malfunctioned so back to the drawing board on Monday. When she called me to the window to reschedule my appointment in the back of my mind all I could think about was the banana in my bag. LOL! You can't eat 6 hrs before the test so I was starving. There is nothing like being injected with a chemical, then placed on a treadmill till you can't take no more like a hamster. Especially, when your already hungry... Well if everything goes as planned then I will update my experience on Monday evening.


"The most important things in life are your friends, family, health, good humor and a positive attitude towards life." ~Author Unknown, from How Poor Are We

Better safe than sorry!!!

I must say that one of the things that I am fully aware of is body, and there is nothing wrong with being in tune with yourself. It's a good thing because when something is different you can tell what's normal for you and what's not. Yesterday evening I experienced something that was not normal for me at all. On the way home after picking up the kids I experienced some tingling feeling in my chest. My only focus was to get my children home safe, and then figuring out what was going on with my body. To ease the feeling I did some breathing exercises like those in yoga to keep my body relaxed and oxygen flowing. The worse thing to do is stress and panic when your body is not functioning normal. I got home and after some time which I lost track of I remembered feeling very weak, nauseous, and tired out of the blue followed by a numb feeling in one spot of my arm. Now some would panic at this point, but my focus believe it or not was controlling my body and making the pain go away. I took my nightly dosage of meds and it seems that my body was starting to respond as I wanted it too. Apparently, I feel asleep on the couch, but the good thing was that the tingling went away. My thoughts were that everything was cool then I start coughing almost to the point of vomiting. Not fun nor comfortable at all!!!! So to be on the safe side the first thing the morning I called my Cardiologist for an appointment this morning. Not to my surprise my EKG was different from the previous one. The doctor let me know that I am fine for now, but he want's to do another stress test. My last one was last February, so I guess I am due for one anyway. After my echo-cardiogram results and this abnormal experience I don't feel excited about my stress test that is scheduled for the 17th. Normally I feel good about these things, but that is because normally I feel that I am improving and my EF is increasing. As much as I did not want to see my cardiologist til six months from now I figured that I BETTER BE SAFE THAN SORRY!!!

"Your body has the amazing ability to naturally realign and heal itself, if you’d just give it some basic attention"~Diane McLaren


I am a survivor, and warrior....
Aquarius Love!!

I live my life....

How do you do it? Some my say
I live my life thanking him for each day
I live my life with a smile and worry free
Well, at least I try not to be

Some may say that I don’t care, but the truth is that stress will only take me elsewhere.
I live my life thanking him for each day
So stress is something that he takes away

I live my life with a smile because I have more than one beautiful child
I live my life thanking him for each day
He gave me him, and well what can I say

I may not be recovered, but I am still here living with heart disease year by year
PPCM he blessed me with so I could share my story and have some kind of effect
I have laughed, cried, and continued to smile
PPCM twice each with a beautiful healthy child.


Dolicia M.
Post-Partum Survivor 2006 & 2009