The announcement on Jan. 9 that the Seattle P-I, my place of employ, will likely close in 60 days, was accompanied by a deep burning sensation in my chest that lasted for three or four days. My best description for it would be a "heart-attacky feeling."
I had to cancel the doctor's appointment I already had scheduled for Jan. 9 because all of a sudden I was just too busy for that kind of thing, but I had my make up visit this past Friday. The news was not good: I have high blood pressure now for the first time in my life -- literally, I have never exceeded 120/80 blood pressure.
Now my blood pressure is what the doctors officially call "very high." So I find myself thinking for the first time about cutting salt from my diet, and thinking more seriously about dropping these 15 pounds I've picked up since Mark got sick.
Some surprises: Dang, my favorite cereal, Basic 4, is high in salt. Man, sardines, oatmeal, tuna, flour tortillas -- some of my most basic food groups, all are secret salt bombs. Dang. OTOH, Jelly Beans: No salt. And Quaker makes a low salt oatmeal. I'll adjust.
Anyways, I came across a great heart healthy resource online tonite, Eating Well has a great lineup of recipes for High BP cretins like me.
Know of any other great online resources for nonsuck low sodium recipes? Post in the comments please!
Oh, and what was the third crappy thing that happened, besides the High Blood Pressure and the announcement that the PI is being put up for sale, and could close if a buyer isn't found?
Saturday I got my federally-required WARN notice, telling me that I'm probably jobless by April 1 at the latest.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Crappy things come in threes
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4 comments:
EMMM????????????
Read again what Renee had to say.
BP is controllable and less salt is not all that bad.
Your support team is out here.
exercise
What did Renee say? and when did she say it? how did I miss that?
Sorry your year is not starting well. You are the age I was when I found out that my cholesterol was 317. Did they check your cholesterol? I went vegetarian for a year to fix that. I controlled my blood pressure with exercise, I worked out evey day till I moved back to Louisiana, at which point my BP also went up. I gave up processed food, and use lots of spices instead of salt when cooking. I use a little feta cheese instead of salt in my salads. And I play tennis whenever possible, sadly not as much as before Katrina. I'm with Janice, exercise is the key. And fruit, it doesn't need salt.
I hope you are taking medication to control it.
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