My sister was recently diagnosed with congestive heart failure. She’s going to do everything she can to control it as much as possible. She is a former smoker, well-controlled diabetes, and has had a sedentary lifestyle. She is just out of the hospital, still needs to follow up with a cardiologist (has appointment), and is determined to do what ever is needed to slow it.
However, at the same time, she struggles with anxiety and depression, and has googled life expectancy, which has really toppled the positivity she left the hospital with.
So I am looking for helpful advice, POSITIVE stories, and anything I can use to keep her spirits up so she is best equipped to stay on course.
My dad had heart surgery at 55 which was supposed to be good for 10 years. Made it to 99.
Exercise is important even if you can’t do much you can do something even if sitting in your chair. Heck, just practice getting in and out of a chair to strengthen leg muscles. Watch tv and do a stationery bike (one of the floor thingies)
Lots of good videos on youtube for exercise programs or even exercise from your bed. They make a big difference!
Thanks, @Nrdsb4 and @gouf78 . And yes, I’m going to help her work toward the exercise component, getting out for walks at a pace she feels comfortable with, for a start. (Been trying to for years, but there’s a lot of motivation now). I also think walking helps emotionally.
She shouldn’t buy the doom and gloom surrounding CHF! Those mortality statistics contain a lot of very old people, so they don’t apply to her (unless she is very old.) I have seen really low EFs (ejection fractions) at the time of diagnosis make huge improvements by the 3-6 month mark, sometimes improving all the way back to the normal range. She will need to be really adherent to taking her medications; that makes a huge difference. A days-of-the-week pillbox is vital. Some people refuse to use one because it makes them “feel old” to have a pillbox, but actually it is the #1 way to improve accuracy and adherence in pill taking, so it is really smart. Best wishes to her!
I would ask about cardiac rehab. The thing about cardiac rehab is that it gets you in the routine of going to the gym and working out.
The other thing is to lose weight if that’s an issue and if not, keep a steady weight. To eat healthy and reduce salt intake.
The biggest issue with heart problems is that it’s a lifelong relationship with a healthier lifestyle. People will start out, make great changes and then slide back into their old habits. That’s what you don’t want to do.
Thanks for the tip. I have suggested a days of the week pillbox, but she’s sure she’ll just remember (she’s already on significant pill regime). It makes me nervous though. I’ll revisit the convo.
And she’s only 61, so yeah, I’m going to impress on her that the mortality rate includes much older folk, too.
Thanks. I will try to be a not too annoying nag. I think you are exactly right that it is keeping up with everything in the long haul that will be difficult.
This has nothing to do with CHF but everything to do with making changes to have a healthier lifestyle.
My sil, her mom has type 2 diabetes. She is very angry about it and thinks that her high blood sugar is ok because her genetics are such that she can tolerate a higher A1c level. Don’t ask, it makes absolutely no sense.
My sil decided to help her mom take charge of her health one summer. They all went on a diet, low in carbs, high in protein. They went on walks. They really worked on setting healthy habits. Her moms A1c level went down so much, her mom was able to go off her medication.
What did her mom decide? This was too much work, she liked her cake and coke. She kept up the walking for awhile but moved and sold her treadmill. Thought she would walk her new neighborhood but lapsed into not doing that either. Decided that she wanted to go on insulin because then she wouldn’t have to eat all those salads. Now she has diabetic retinopathy and needs shots for that.
All this to say that along with helping someone take charge of their health, you also need to remember that you can’t do it for her. That this is a journey for her! That is a very hard thing to remember.
But if your sister wants to change, is motivated and consistent, she can change her life!
Yep! get a pill box! And a pulse oximeter (we called it the alligator–fingertip clip for pulse and oxygen level) and a blood pressure monitor. We got a wrist bp monitor from Omron (Omron 7). The wrist cuff was very accurate and super easy to use (loads better than the arm monitor we had for my mom). Blood pressure fluctuates naturally and not everybody (as I’m sure you know) is textbook.
Your sis really needs to pay attention to what her body is telling her. Don’t blindly keep taking bp meds that make her feel faint or dizzy.
As Deb points out this is your sister’s journey, My motto has always been “all things in moderation”. Some of the “rules” for CHF can be daunting. Don’t eat this, can’t drink that and on and on. If you read all the dire warnings you’re sure to die just perusing them. If you try to adhere to everything it’s just plain depressing.
One of the hardest is the “no salt” rules which honestly is really hard. We fudged a bit on that but since he had been eating a lot of processed food (like frozen dinners) it was easy to cut out tons of salt immediately just by cooking at home, We ended up freezing home cooked meals and it worked great. You honestly can’t buy anything ready made from the grocery store.
I don’t buy anything anymore either after studying labels (I miss them but it’s almost scary to look at some of the labels…)
My 93 year old FIL was diagnosed with CHF back in 1993. We thought we were going to lose him then - the first parent to be lost between H and I. Now we’re looking forward to his 94th birthday before too long - he’s the only parent we have left.
He lost weight, kept up with exercise and doing things - not walking a treadmill - he stays active in general with projects and gardening. He takes his meds like clockwork. His diet changed some, but never switched to 100% healthy TBH.
He’s outlived (age wise) everyone in his family line.
One never knows. It’s certainly not an instant death sentence.
As I said above, the diabetes is well under control now. It was up and down in the past, but much better for quite a while now. She has the pulse oximeter and the BP monitor.
I know I can’t do this for her, but she’s otherwise on her own–no immediate family, especially since our mom died, with whom she’d lived for many years, and mentally/emotionally somewhat fragile.
Keep the advice and stories coming! Very helpful.
It is important that she knows someone is on her side, which is why I’m playing support team.
Im in my 40s and I use a pill box. I take multiple prescriptions and I just hate having to take the time every day to open all the pill boxes. I like only having to do it once a week. It isnt about me being able to remember them. I just hate futzing with the packaging they have.
They have nicer pillboxes now online. They have ones that have 2 sections for morning/evening meds. Even ones with morning/afternoon/evening sections.
I have a pill box that’s divided into 4 sections. I have labeled each with the pills I put in it. I also have a pill splitter and cut 2 of my pills in half each week and put a weeks supply in at a time. It helps me keep my pills straight and works great!
For folks who take more pills and more times/day, there are a lot of available options.