about six weeks ago my other half woke me in the middle of the night.
He was in some pain and informed me that he was 'having a heart attack'
I turned on the big light and looked at him.
Was he pale?
Was he grey?
Was he Clammy?
was he short of breath?
The answer to all of these questions was a big fat NO.
I asked him where the pain was and he pointed to the mid chest area.
I asked it it went anywhere else....again the answer was NO.
I asked him what kind of pain it was.
By this point he was getting cross.
'It's just a sharp pain woman, do something'
I went downstairs and got him some dual action liquid gaviscon.
He downed that and spent the next half an hour sat on the edge of the bed.
That night I had gone to bed at 9pm.
He was watching a very gory & sweary film.
I can't be doing with them at all...I had a good book to read so I chuffed off to bed.
While I was upstairs reading, himself thought it might be nice to help himself to a handful of mixed nuts and raisins....then a bag of crisps with a side order of cream cheese...and then on top of that a couple of apricots were stuffed down his gizzard(these, I hasten to add without chewing them).
How do I know he did not chew them...well he told me his teeth were in soak in the pot in the kitchen.
Then just before bed he had a drink of soda water to clean his mouth.
So was it any surprise he was sat there at 1am in acute discomfort because he had stuffed his rops?
Well, not to me it wasn't.
He was quite dischuffed that I had discounted his heart attack diagnosis...So I went and got out the BP machine.
His pulse was regular and good volume his BP was spot on....and it was only then would he get back into bed...after I had got him extra pillows to prop him up.
The next day I told him in no uncertain terms that his prblem was that he had got into a habit of 'grazing'. That his midriff was more of a corporation than Preston had( a big belly)
When he went for his MOT at the GP practice before lockdown, they weighed him and he tipped the scales at 120KG.
I asked if they had advised him to lose weight, but he denied this(I don't like to say he is lying, but I am pretty damn sure that was a fiblet).
I told him that the problem he had had the night before was because he was getting 'Reflux'....that this was caused by his expanded waistline, eating and drinking late in the evening...eating and drinking the wrong things and then lying down...allowing gastric acid to get into his gullet.
I told him that he had a couple of options.
1) to carry on, but need to take antacids and risk being in pain and gain more weight from silly habits.
2) he could embark on a better way of life.
a) lose weight.
b)eat NO snacks.
c) reduce his waistline,
d) NO food after 7pm
e) No alcohol or fizzy drinks, no crisps no pastry, no fatty foods.
I told him that it was entirely up to him which option he chose.
He said that he would go and see the quack.
I told him that, of course, he could do that..but not to expect anything to be prescribed...that first line management would be his weight and unsuitable diet....that only if this line failed would they do investigations or prescribe meds.
He hummed and hawed at this advice and said he would see how he went.
So after another two episodes of reflux pain, and disturbed nights he decided he would opt for the diet.
We are not really sure what his weight was when he started the reduced rations three weeks ago...but I am sure it was more that the 120kg he tipped the sacles at earlier in the year.
But taking that figure as a starting point he has lost 5kg in the last three weeks.
He has breakfast, lunch and Evening meal...and nothing else.
The evening meal is served at 5pm and I have got him to have nothing else to eat after his tea...he can have a drink before 7pm...then nothing.
We have had no more episodes of reflux and he is sticking to the new plan.
He has asked if he can have a ginger nut, but I have told him NO...not until he gets down to 100kg, then as a celebration he can have TWO ginger nuts with a cup of tea after his lunch...then it is back to the diet...exceept I have told him that this is no diet, it is a life plan.
It will help with his blood pressure, it will help with his aching hips knees and ankles.
77 year old bones should not have to carry 120kgs around all day, every day.
He was in some pain and informed me that he was 'having a heart attack'
I turned on the big light and looked at him.
Was he pale?
Was he grey?
Was he Clammy?
was he short of breath?
The answer to all of these questions was a big fat NO.
I asked him where the pain was and he pointed to the mid chest area.
I asked it it went anywhere else....again the answer was NO.
I asked him what kind of pain it was.
By this point he was getting cross.
'It's just a sharp pain woman, do something'
I went downstairs and got him some dual action liquid gaviscon.
He downed that and spent the next half an hour sat on the edge of the bed.
That night I had gone to bed at 9pm.
He was watching a very gory & sweary film.
I can't be doing with them at all...I had a good book to read so I chuffed off to bed.
While I was upstairs reading, himself thought it might be nice to help himself to a handful of mixed nuts and raisins....then a bag of crisps with a side order of cream cheese...and then on top of that a couple of apricots were stuffed down his gizzard(these, I hasten to add without chewing them).
How do I know he did not chew them...well he told me his teeth were in soak in the pot in the kitchen.
Then just before bed he had a drink of soda water to clean his mouth.
So was it any surprise he was sat there at 1am in acute discomfort because he had stuffed his rops?
Well, not to me it wasn't.
He was quite dischuffed that I had discounted his heart attack diagnosis...So I went and got out the BP machine.
His pulse was regular and good volume his BP was spot on....and it was only then would he get back into bed...after I had got him extra pillows to prop him up.
The next day I told him in no uncertain terms that his prblem was that he had got into a habit of 'grazing'. That his midriff was more of a corporation than Preston had( a big belly)
When he went for his MOT at the GP practice before lockdown, they weighed him and he tipped the scales at 120KG.
I asked if they had advised him to lose weight, but he denied this(I don't like to say he is lying, but I am pretty damn sure that was a fiblet).
I told him that the problem he had had the night before was because he was getting 'Reflux'....that this was caused by his expanded waistline, eating and drinking late in the evening...eating and drinking the wrong things and then lying down...allowing gastric acid to get into his gullet.
I told him that he had a couple of options.
1) to carry on, but need to take antacids and risk being in pain and gain more weight from silly habits.
2) he could embark on a better way of life.
a) lose weight.
b)eat NO snacks.
c) reduce his waistline,
d) NO food after 7pm
e) No alcohol or fizzy drinks, no crisps no pastry, no fatty foods.
I told him that it was entirely up to him which option he chose.
He said that he would go and see the quack.
I told him that, of course, he could do that..but not to expect anything to be prescribed...that first line management would be his weight and unsuitable diet....that only if this line failed would they do investigations or prescribe meds.
He hummed and hawed at this advice and said he would see how he went.
So after another two episodes of reflux pain, and disturbed nights he decided he would opt for the diet.
We are not really sure what his weight was when he started the reduced rations three weeks ago...but I am sure it was more that the 120kg he tipped the sacles at earlier in the year.
But taking that figure as a starting point he has lost 5kg in the last three weeks.
He has breakfast, lunch and Evening meal...and nothing else.
The evening meal is served at 5pm and I have got him to have nothing else to eat after his tea...he can have a drink before 7pm...then nothing.
We have had no more episodes of reflux and he is sticking to the new plan.
He has asked if he can have a ginger nut, but I have told him NO...not until he gets down to 100kg, then as a celebration he can have TWO ginger nuts with a cup of tea after his lunch...then it is back to the diet...exceept I have told him that this is no diet, it is a life plan.
It will help with his blood pressure, it will help with his aching hips knees and ankles.
77 year old bones should not have to carry 120kgs around all day, every day.