On Family Health

In the last four months three out of four of those in my immediate family have been hospitalised. I feel sorry for my little brother as it’s been as stressful for him as it has been all of us. Mum’s had ongoing gynae issues which have impacted on other areas of her health. She had to go on the sickness benefit, which is really sad as she loves her job. Dad had a minor heart attack last week. He had two stents put in on Wednesday, and will have a third put in in a couple of weeks. He’s a box of birds at the moment. But his dad passed away when he was in his 50’s – Dad’s in his early 50’s now. Mum’s only 51. It does make you think.

And I’ve been in hospital with my latest ectopic and having my fallopian tube removed. I seem to be following mum in the area of bung gynae bits. And, as they pointed out when visiting Dad at hospital, heart health is hereditary, so Jim and I (and our cousins too!) should be careful.

My main concern with the gynae stuff is ending up with internal scarring from multiple surgeries and having complications down the line like mum. I haven’t had nearly as much surgery as Mum, but I had intermittent chronic abdominal pain for a year following my first ectopic which landed me back in hospital twice. Thankfully, after this recent surgery, I have not had the same issue. Everything appears to be healing fine and the pain is only there if I overdo things. All I can do about my gynae health is follow the rules and have faith in our ever evolving health system.*

I never really thought about the possibility of genetic heart problems until I visited Dad in hospital. Granddad Barry (Dad’s Dad) died of a heart attack young, but he didn’t have the healthiest lifestyle. His (Granddad’s) parents lived healthily for a very long time, so I always thought of Granddad’s heart attack as a family anomaly. I’m not too worried about Dad. Catching things early on and putting the stents in means that with a few lifestyle tweaks (quitting smoking, and maybe knowing when to slow down…), he should be right as rain for quite a long time. It does make me consider the health of my own heart though, which is something I never really thought about before. I don’t smoke, I eat pretty healthy, and my cholesterol is now ok (it has been high previously). I should watch my alcohol intake though…

And I have got a little fat recently. With getting pregnant just after Christmas (binge eating season), and then having surgery I’ve put on about three kilos. Pre-Christmas, I was already at a bit more than I like to be, and with this bit extra it means I’m about 6 or 7 kilos over what I’d really like to be. My BMI is a bit over what it should be and means I’m technically overweight. This is something which contributes to heart health, and is something that I can change.

So this week is my first week on a kilojoule counting diet. I’m naughty and doing it without medical guidance (cos I’m a tight arse) – but I am a sensible person who works in the field of food and nutrition so it should be ok. I’ve made Monday my ‘weigh in’ day – today I had my first one. I’m using the local chemist so I can track my weight loss more accurately. If I’m losing more than a kilo a week, I’ll adjust my diet to suit. I’ve set myself a kilojoule range rather than a number to be under as I think it’s healthier and a bit more realistic. I don’t want to be skinny – I’ve been skinny and I don’t think I suit it. I just want to be healthy, feel good and fit into my jeans again.

Focusing on this aspect of my health while I wait to find out what’s happening with the other area is really useful for my mental health. And, if we do have a good result with the scan, I can start my next pregnancy in better health, which will give us a better chance of carrying a healthy baby to term. Accounting for it is also good for my health, as I can get a little obsessive about these things. So I’m going to post a blog about this each Monday. I promise to also post any awesome recipes, tips and tricks I come up with too, to make it less boring if you regularly read my blog.

Monday 5^th March current weight: 62.6 kilos

Ultimate Goal Weight: 56.0 kilos

Weight to go: 6.6 kilos

*Seriously! Mum and I worked out that between us we've had an ectopic in each decade over the last 40 years. It's amazing how things have changed. Her first two they cut her hip to hip, mine were both keyhole and with the second one everything was glued - so no stitches! I think in ten years time it'll be different again.