Good-bye, for now, to favorite food

This is a photo of me and one of my most favorite foods, a hot dog.

Not just any hot dog. A Texas Weiner. There is a rich history behind this tasty treat.

My good friend Charlotte Fiorito shot this photo on July 27, my birthday. I turned 44. That day, I also said good-bye to to hot dogs in an effort to save my life.

Hot dogs are loaded with fat and sodium. I am taking prednisone to reduce symptoms of heart and lung sarcoidosis. A major side effect of prednisone is weight gain through the retention of water and sodium. It is difficult to say good-bye to the foods you love when you are on prednisone because another prednisone side effect is insatiable hunger. Prednisone patients are ravenous 24-7.

The last time I had hot dogs was July 27. I ate a Texas Weiner with Charlotte while we were on a remember-back-when tour of Plainfield, N.J. That Weiner touched off a craving. I had to have more hot dogs. Later that night (or early morning July 28?) while my folks were asleep, I raided the basement freezer for more.

“This is crazy. I really should not be eating this,” I thought to myself as I nuked the dogs, pulled the relish out the fridge and got the rolls ready. “This is crazy,” I said as I slathered the buns with mustard and relish, put the dogs on and “This is crazy…”

Can’t think full mouth…

After eating those dogs, my lower legs swelled so badly I had to lie down and prop up my feet to reduce the swelling. I was actually afraid to check my blood pressure. It would have been too depressing. If I stand a chance of beating this disease and controlling the prednisone side effects, I thought to myself, I have to rein in this appetite no matter what.

Diet and exercise became the goal. I’ve been walking with my dad and lifting weights every day at least five days a week. I walk a few miles every day and lift weights five days a week.

I won’t weigh myself just yet. I have an important doctor’s appointment on Sept. 8. They can weigh me then. Last time I was weighed was three weeks ago and I was 306. I am now trying to gauge success by how my clothes fit. They are getting loose, which is a good sign. I also gauge success by blood pressure reading results. When I moved home, my readings were in the 150s/90s range, with a new in the 170s/110 (that was at wake up…sleep apnea)…Now the readings are in the low 130s/80s, with a couple in the 120s/70s range. The readings are much closer to the 125/85 my doctors want me to maintain.

(This photo shot on Aug. 20, 3-1/2 weeks into working out. Shirt, pants are no longer tight!) I’m feeling better. I am moving better. I assume I am losing weight. We will see on Sept. 8.

It’s tough to say no to hot dogs. We as a nation consume billions of them. They will be front and center at the majority of cookouts this Labor Day weekend. How can one resist. The key, for me, is moderation. I have not had one in more than a month now. I can do one. It will not kill me. After that, the only dog in my life is Tobie, my parent's beloved golden Labrador.

Addictions come to life after death

(Today's column to dedicated to Don Hewitt, the founder and executive producer of "60 Minutes, who died Aug. 19 at age 86. He and his crew, including the late, great Ed Bradley, are major influences).

Commercials featuring the late pitchman extraordinaire Billy Mays still air and they are freaking me out.

From the idiot box, his image glows, hawking cheap little garden weeders. He filmed the commercials weeks before dying from sudden cardiac arrest and, well, there were all those gadgets to sell, so…

The deaths of Mays, Michael Jackson and Diane Schuler have held the nations' attention for weeks because they are tragedies with shocking twists.

(Left; Mays with a fan) The revelation that drugs – in Jackson’s case, the power anesthetic propofol and cocaine in Mays case - contributed to his death was shocking for many. But there were hints of problems for years. Research about the large pharmaceutical bills he owed...Something was up.

Mays, with the booming voice and trademark thick, ultra-black beard, appeared healthy. Then he died from SCA. Then the toxicology report was released, stunning many.

Nothing, however, prepared the news-consuming nation for the July 26 fatal accident involving Schuler. The 36-year-old Cablevision executive and mom drove her vehicle the wrong way along the Taconic Parkway and crashed, killing herself, her daughter, three nieces and three men in the SUV she hit.

Right away, Schuler was a news media darling. The 24-hour cable news beast and its insatiable audience served up and swallowed the surface story: The life of a straight, married suburban mom and executive tragically cut short. All that was true, but there was so much more.

(Left; Road on which Shuler fatally crashed) The Taconic is deadly! Fix the highways so this never happens again!, the shocked and grieving public demanded. State and federal officials scrambled to make it so. Then New York state police released the report that staggered the nation: Schuler was drunk and stoned the day of the fatal accident.

The King of Pop's people knew Jackson was fighting addiction. At least one of his siblings(probably La Toya, the chattiest and least talented one) told news media that the Jacksons were planning an intervention for Michael in 2007. For whatever reason, it never happened.

However, the families and friends of Mays and Schuler are like most people close to people with addictions. They did not see any of this coming. Or they are/were in denial.

Read this carefully. There are no judgment calls in this column. I appreciate the fact that Jackson and Mays elevated the profile of sudden cardiac arrest (I still think it is vital for people to be aware of SCA. I first became aware of it because of pulmonary and cardiac sarcoidosis. I try to do everything I can to keep the ticker and lungs as healthy as possible). I was as shocked as everyone else was when authorities said Schuler’s blood-alcohol level was 0.19 percent - or more than twice the legal limit. A New York Times reporter estimated that Schuler had consumed the equivalent of 10 shots of 80-proof liquor. She also had six grams of undigested alcohol in her stomach when she died.

The New York Times also reported, “There were high levels of a chemical found in marijuana, enough to pinpoint her last use at 15 minutes to an hour before her death.”

Cocaine use contributed to the heart disease that killed Mays, according to the report from the Hillsborough County, Fla., medical examiner. His wife discovered his body at their Tampa condo on June 28.

(Left image from a time when the King of Pop had the world by the you-know-whats) Jackson was...unique. He changed skin color before our eyes. He owned a pet chimp whom he dressed in a space suit. He sometimes wore a space suit. He made the wearing of a lone, sequenced white glove a fashion statement.

And he wrote and performed some of the most beautiful, brilliant pop music ever. His art will be enjoyed, mimicked and studied for generations to come. Unfortunately, his life will be publicly dissected until the end of time. But can there really be any more shocking revelations about Michael Jackson?

Mays and Schuler presented as ordinary people. Next door neighbors, if you will. And we are always shocked when we learn that our neighbors harbor dark secrets.

We have to remember that they are human. We need to be there for them if they are in need.

After Jackson's death, spotlight remains on sudden cardiac arrest

Image via Wikipedia

The deaths of Michael Jackson and ad pitchman Billy Mays pushed heart disease to center stage these past two weeks.

Some 300,000 Americans die each year of sudden cardiac arrest, according to figures from the American Heart Association. The survival rate is low. Folks do survive, though, especially if they receive medical help within the first 10 minutes of an attack.

With that in mind, I interviewed Dr. Ajoy Kapoor is a cardiologist and sarcoidosis specialist based in New Haven, Hamden and Branford, Conn.

He explains sudden cardiac arrest; what people can do to prevent and treat it.

I want to be transparent: Dr. Kapoor was among the doctors who tested me in 2005, when I was first diagnosed with sarcoidosis. It was inactive back then, slight evidence of scarring of lung tissue. I have always been good about going to the doctor for regular check-ups, but I asked for exams checking specifically for signs of flare-ups. That may have helped me avoid the situation in which I find myself.

Here's what Dr. Kapoor had to say:

Q: What is sudden cardiac arrest?

A: Basically, it is the abrupt lose of heart function. In generic terms, in laymen’s terms, the abruptness of the loss of function is key.

Q: How is sudden cardiac arrest different from a heart attack?

A: Heart attacks are a broad category. Not all heart attacks result in sudden cardiac arrest. Not all heart attacks or myocardial infarctions cause sudden cardiac arrest.

Q: What causes sudden cardiac arrest?

A: Lose of blood flow. Blockage of an artery. An arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat or the actual heart muscle of valve might physically be disrupted. You can disrupt it in a way to create a whole in the heart or valve. Seventy percent of cases have atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease (at its roots); another 30 percent is caused by a variety of arrhythmias (cardiomapolies; dilated heart; congenital heart abnormalities; valvular abnormalities).

Q: Who is at risk for sudden cardiac arrest?

A: If they are young, it could be due to congenital abnormalities, cardiomypothy; heart attack.

Other contributing facts are

- Smoking

- High blood pressure

- High cholesterol

- Diabetes

- Smoking

- Lack of exercise

Then there are many things we still don’t know. One can have good cholesterol, be a non-smoker and still die of sudden cardiac arrest. So, we also follow markers of inflammation. But none of these gives us a complete picture.

Q: What tests can I take to find out if I am at risk for sudden cardiac arrest?

A: Give your doctor your history physical; submit to an EKG (electrocardiogram); blood work. Then decisions can me made on that information and those results. Some people may need extra testing and some people may not need extra testing.

Q: Are there definitive treatments for sudden cardiac arrest?

I stress prevention. It is important to modify life style. Smoking cessation, exercising, lowering cholesterol, (controlling) diabetes. People need to take care of themselves. Prevention is key.

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Folks do survive sudden cardiac arrest. Their stories at the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association Website are uplifting. Check them out and have a great, safe Independence Day weekend.