Last February I was at an SCA event in the kingdom of  Gleann Abhann  fighting in a Rapier tournament when I lost my breath and could not catch it. After about an hour of of suffering from a racing heart and not being able to breathe I was taken to the local E.R. where I was hospitalized for a few days to be treated for pneumonia. I was also told to have a stress test done on my heart.

After being discharged I went back to my hometown and my doctor scheduled an appointment with a Cardiologist to have the stress test done, but before my appointment rolled around I started having angina. I was hospitalized and my cardiologist performed an Angioplasty, as well as placing a stent in my right coronary artery, which was 85% blocked.

In May I was having angina again and was hospitalized a third time. My Cardiologist performed another Angioplasty, and found out my stent had become 70% clogged by scar tissue. He cleaned it out, and the next day I was discharged.

About a week and a half  later I started vomiting late one night, and continued to do so for 18 hours. I ended up in the hospital again for about 4 days, and found out I have Familial Hyperlipidemia. I was told to cut pork and all fatty/greasy foods from my diet.

Then, last week my feet started swelling and got so big I couldn’t even put on my (lace up) boots. I had Peripheral Pitting Edema. My doctor told me it was my heart acting up again, and I was given diuretics and told to cut my salt intake.Now, my salt intake wasn’t as much as most peoples to begin with, as I almost never added salt to my food at the table. However I did eat a lot of canned and processed foods.

I have since started draining the liquids from my canned veggies and rinsing them off before cooking. I have also started making some of my own condiments, such as  BBQ sauce from scratch with no salt.

My primary sources for protein are chicken (boiled, drained and stripped/pulled), beef (fat trimmed before cooking and grease drained while cooking), and beans. These will be the basis for many of my recipes.

This blog is to document my recipes and any reactions I may have to them so that others who suffer from the same medical problems as I can benefit from my experiences.

Mike