The Queen's Chair: A Better U Starts With You
Three years ago, something very MAJOR happened in my life. On Super Bowl Sunday, I suffered a stroke and didn't know it. I showed none of the classic signs. My speech was fine. I had no headaches. I felt fine except for the fact that I had to go to the bathroom and couldn't get out of bed to do so.
Over the next several months, I learned my family had a history of stroke. The women in our family who suffered a stroke usually died. I was the first female that didn't. My doctors attributed my condition ironically to too much stress in my life, a job I hated, a bad marriage, and a high cholestrol. I was warned I'd have to make changes to my life.
So I did. I changed my diet and gave up things like soda, some candy and processed foods, consumed more salad, fish, and chicken products, stopped eating white rice and white bread, started counting calories and taking fish oil, eliminated friends who brought me too much drama and ended my 14-year marriage.
My doctors didn't think I would ever walk again: I fooled them all. I was determined to reclaim my old life. As a mother of two children, I decided that none of my daughters would or should go through something like this: EVER. So, I changed the way they ate as well.
As a single parent, I wear many hats and decided that my life changes wouldn't just stop at food. When my friend, Amit found out I was a stroke survivor, he suggested that I try out the Heart Association's Better U Program. It's a free, 12-week program that offers suggestions, strategies, and skills to lessen my chance of getting heart disease. Many don't know heart disease is the number one killer of women. Breast cancer ranks second.
Wanna take this journey with me? You can log in at the American Heart Association's Go Red For Women site. Hit the Better U tab on the page.
I volunteered to write about my experiences with it because anything that is going to help me live long enough to hear the words "Nana" and "Mom" is well worth the effort. I LOVE myself and hope to be here for a long time. I figured if I survived my stroke, rehab, and two weeks of hospital food; I can survive these 12 weeks. I'm giving this a try. Stay tuned for more Queen's Chair blogs.
Over the next several months, I learned my family had a history of stroke. The women in our family who suffered a stroke usually died. I was the first female that didn't. My doctors attributed my condition ironically to too much stress in my life, a job I hated, a bad marriage, and a high cholestrol. I was warned I'd have to make changes to my life.
So I did. I changed my diet and gave up things like soda, some candy and processed foods, consumed more salad, fish, and chicken products, stopped eating white rice and white bread, started counting calories and taking fish oil, eliminated friends who brought me too much drama and ended my 14-year marriage.
My doctors didn't think I would ever walk again: I fooled them all. I was determined to reclaim my old life. As a mother of two children, I decided that none of my daughters would or should go through something like this: EVER. So, I changed the way they ate as well.
As a single parent, I wear many hats and decided that my life changes wouldn't just stop at food. When my friend, Amit found out I was a stroke survivor, he suggested that I try out the Heart Association's Better U Program. It's a free, 12-week program that offers suggestions, strategies, and skills to lessen my chance of getting heart disease. Many don't know heart disease is the number one killer of women. Breast cancer ranks second.
Wanna take this journey with me? You can log in at the American Heart Association's Go Red For Women site. Hit the Better U tab on the page.
I volunteered to write about my experiences with it because anything that is going to help me live long enough to hear the words "Nana" and "Mom" is well worth the effort. I LOVE myself and hope to be here for a long time. I figured if I survived my stroke, rehab, and two weeks of hospital food; I can survive these 12 weeks. I'm giving this a try. Stay tuned for more Queen's Chair blogs.
Thanks Sister Marsha for sharing your experience and you can me in! Don't speak about the terrible hospital food. I wish I could upload a pik of what was suppose to be a vegetarian fritter that looked more like a rock and sounded like a rock when you knocked it on something that was served to one of my (heart) patients. They don't cook the food at the hospital where I work, its prepacked and heated up in a microwave.
Apprarently when I saw the people from the kitchen bringing up a tray for a newly admitted patient, I showed them the "rock" oppps veggie fritter. She told me that I shouldn't send it to my mgr because she would get in trouble. She brought up another one for my patient, but stated that she added water to it before microwaving it that time. Can you believe that? I thought food was supposse to be good so that the sick could have good nutrition to promote healing. Its all about saving money in my place of work. I did ask that they start giving patients surveys about their meals. I'll bring it up in our next unit meeting. Brkfast is the only meal they don't mess up, because they serve cereal or muffins with juice, coffee, tea, and milk. It's a shame though! Suffice it to say that the next day's meal for my patient was something that looked like they took it out of a Betty Crocker Recipe book.