Trish, I read online that exercise is ok with CHF, but I didn't read about Aortic Stenosis, which is the cause of my CHF. It can be caused by different things. I do gentle exercise. My heart rate goes up a bit but not really high and doesn't stay up very long. I think I went up and down the steps more than 10 times today and I probably burned a lot of calories. Many days I don't use the stairs at all. I have 5 grocery bags of clothes to take to Goodwill and all my clothes are washed and put away. I still have whites to do.

Dinner wasn't great. The meat was dry because DH doesnt like me to buy beef with much fat and he doesn't like me to make gravy. I should have made it anyway. I might make some tomorrow for the leftovers. He won't eat them but I will. I made rice pilaf, carrots and broccoli. At least it was healthy. I also sliced and ate a pear.

I read that exercise with Aortic Stenosis can be risky, but I do light exercise. It seems that everything is risky with Aortic Stenosis. I didn't realize how much I would have to go through to get this done. I should have done it sooner but I didn't want to do it during the pandemic. Hindsight is 20/20.

We went out for breakfast and I had oatmeal. Then we went to Goodwill and dropped off the clothes I was donating. Nothing planned for the rest of the day.

Carol Sue You did more than I did today. I don't have to go any where until Friday when we meet my sisters and BILs for dinner. Of course I'll do some my exercises everyday all week.

I had my meals planned for today and DH changed his routine and decided to go to store today and got McDs CB on the way home. All I had to do was change dinner meals. I kept my calories below 1600 and sodium was around 1500mg. So I believe I did good today.

We had spaghetti for dinner. That's what we have when we want something fast and can't think of anything else. We are both tired of it. I found out that although heavy carb, the spaghetti has no sodium. Its the sauce that does. So I just had a little bit of sauce on mine and several meat balls. I don't feel good, too many carbs. But I'll be ok after I sleep.

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I had some heart rate issues for the first time in a while so it might have been the pasta. After that settled down I slept pretty good.

I'm going to go through some shoes I have and give them to Goodwill. I don't think I will ever be able to wear those shoes and I don't think step daughter will want them. Too bad. They are nice shoes.

Late last night there was a big truck outside with lights flashing. During the night we had no water. This morning it was fine,but now my neighbor said she has no water.
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Carol Sue I am learning where the sodium is in things. When we have the chipped beef, I now eat mine on pasta because there is too much sodium in the biscuits, but 0 in the pasta. I still get sodium but can stay between 1500 mg and 2300 mg. Still have a problem with DH understanding why I can't eat some things because of too much sodium. We are having hot dogs today, but I can't have beans with it because they are the ones he cooked and put too much salt in them. I reminded him that the oncologist told me to watch the sodium with the edema. Not exactly what he said but it gets the point over to DH. He said he would take care of the sodium but to him that means add more water to dilute it but the sodium is still there. I keep telling him to rinse it off of mine but he just doesn't get it. So I will have hot dogs on SLMG bread and a little bit of mustard without beans. I want to control the sodium because the side effect of this IV I get once a month is high bp and mine has gone up. That is why Primary doc upped my Lisinapril. Plus my Daddy had a stroke and his Daddy died of a stroke. Why take a chance when I can control my bp with lowering sodium intake. I'm just thankful I know what to do. What I do is plan main meal of the day and then plan other meals around that to keep my sodium in the normal range. Of course that is only as accurate as it can be using MFP.

I reached a new goal today. I got up out of bed by myself this morning. I kept thinking I could do it but was a little scared to try it because I didn't have my walker. However, the distance between my bed and the doors to the bathroom are close enough that I decided to try it. Although DH will still have to help get in the bed and even help me in and out during the night to go pitty, it is nice that I now can get myself up in the morning and dress myself etc without having to wake him up. I have decided to take the tramadol at night when I go to bed and that is helping me rest during the night without pain so I am sleeping later in the morning. I got up the last few mornings around 8 or 8:30 and I didn't get up until after 9 this morning. That is going to help with healing neuropathy and edema from what I've read. I've gniotten half my exercises done which I do in the morning and will do the bike after dinner which wil finish the exercises for today.

Have a nice day.

Trish, please check to see how much sodium is in the hot dogs. I think different ones have different amounts.

Good for you on getting out of bed without help. Just be careful.

Today was a wonderful day. I was dreading having to call the doctor and dentist and lo and behold the doctors office called me. They called to make a few changes to the instructions to my procedure. Here it turns out the doctor was off sick then he was on vacation. They did receive the fax from the dentist and will be replying in a day or 2. I'm not looking forward to getting the tooth extracted but its one of the things I have to do. I think it will be easier than I'm expecting. So 6 weeks from now this will be all over, one way or another.

I didn't ask about exercising because we had so many other things to discuss. I am only doing exercise to strengthen my leg and arm muscles and that should not affect my heart. I think I will be fine.

We went to Bob Evans for dinner and I tried a new meal on their menu. I didn't like it and won't get it again. But I never would have known until I tried it. I will go back to my old standbys. I'm liking less and less food.

At Wal-Mart I bought a protein shake I wanted to try. Its pretty big so should be good for 2 servings. I will be needing this since I like fewer and fewer meat items. On the way home we dropped off 2 bags of shoes at Goodwill. I have more shoes to go through and also purses.

Carol Sue Glad you finally heard from the doctor's office.

As for the hot dogs, when I know we are going to have hot dogs are some other high sodium food. I start tracking with that food and that meal 1st so I can keep other meals low in sodium foods. So far it is working.

I'm headed to bed. Goodnight

Trish, that's a good idea to plan your menu around any higher sodium food you may be planning. Unfortunately, I rarely plan. There is hardly a day that I don't start off eating eggs and a slice of toast, and its anywhere between 8 am and noon depending on my hunger. After that who knows? It usually depends on what DH wants to do. That is easier than dealing with Mr Grumpy when he doesn't get what he wants to eat. I have learned to build my diet around him. The only exception is when I want to make something that takes longer like in the slow cooker or oven, then I usually run it by him. Sometimes I have meat sitting on the stove to defrost and he will ask what we're having! Duh!

I didn't get on the scale for 2 days. I feel fat, but my ring is loose and my feet/ankles are swelling, so I think I'm ok. I have been getting slight headaches and I read that is a side effect of the fluid pill. In my whole life I rarely got headaches so I notice it more. In the past when I got a headache it was because I was hungry. So now when I get a headache my first impulse is to eat. That's not good.

We are going to the local casino today. This is the first time in 2 weeks. We don't usually eat dinner on casino day but there are good restaurants out that way, so I don't know what he will want to do.

Carol Sue I understand about planning meals around what DH will eat. When I can do the cooking again, it will be easier for me to cook healthier for us. However even then I cook mostly things we both like, but there are times I will plan a meal that I know may not be his favorite but he will tolerate as long as I don't turn it into a regular meal. Hope you have a good day at the casino.

I am now able to get in and out of bed on my own during the night. The difference is that now I have to do all the things for myself that DH used to do while I was getting dressed to come into the living room. That isn't bad except that it takes me longer to get to the things I usually do. Plus the fact that I'm sleeping later doesn't help. I don't have enough time to get everything done I like to do before DH gets up. I assume that will improve as I get used to things and I feel more comfortable with what I'm doing. Today he will cook tilapia. I might get in the kitchen and cook me some okra to go with mine.

So another goal is met. The next goal is to cook a whole meal by myself which has been a major goal for me from day one. Then my next goal is to use a regular cart at the store instead of an electric cart.

Fatmad I hope you are doing okay.

Have a good day everyone.

The casino was terrible. We went to Texas Roadhouse afterwards. I got a steak salad and when I got home my stomach was upset and I had potty issues, so something didn't sit well. I'm ok now.

Trish, once you get back to doing everything for yourself you will create a routine for yourself. That's wonderful that you are are improving so much so quickly! Once you started co my things it all came together. Soon, DH won't have anything to do.

I got up at 6:30 to read for a while. Then I went back to bed and slept until 10AM. I never sleep that late so my day will be messed up.

Carol Sue So sorry the casino was bad and then to get sick after eating at TX Roadhouse. DS told her daughter that she gets sick after eating out and she told DS that it. is the fat. It will be interesting to see what happens after I eat out tomorrow.

I am getting good nights sleep even getting up during the night, but getting up so late in the morning throws my whole day off because DH gets up and he turns on the tv not to watch anything but just for the noise. We changed some things up so I can have my walker by the bed when I get up. It was so much nicer to be able to get up on my own and not have to depend on waking up DH.

There is a young woman in FL who goes to DH DSIL church who was going through chemo at the same time I was. This isi DH 1st wife's sister who has not missed sending me a get well and encouraging cards every week since this started with me. Any way the young girl shared yesterday on FB that she had a PET Scan yesterday and she is cancer free. They had mentioned radiation but we had been praying she wouldn't have to have radiation and Praise God she won't have to have it. I am so happy for her.

Well DH is cooking pork chops today. I still have more exercise I need to do so I better get busy. Hope you have a better day today Carol Sue.

BBL

The dentist office called today to schedule my extraction for Tuesday. I'm nervous. I have not had a tooth pulled since I was in my 20s. That's over 50 years ago. I'm sure the procedure has improved since then. This is the last thing I have to do before my procedure except get bloodwork done and a chest xray. Its getting closer.

Yesterday when I got the salad at Texas Roadhouse it was the first time I've had a meal salad in a long time. Years back I often got a salad when we ate out and I often got potty issues. So it might have been the salad. Today when I went to take my pills out of my pill box I realized I didn't take my pills yesterday morning. That could have added to me not feeling well. I'm back on track today.

I was surprised to hear that you are going out to eat with your sisters. I hope you do well and enjoy your meal and the visit with family.

Praise the Lord that the young girl is cancer free. They have come so far with cancer treatment!

We finally got some ground beef so DH cooked a hamburger for his dinner. I didn't want one so I had canned pears for my dinner.

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By the way, you made me really hungry for pork chops so I took some out of the freezer for tomorrow! If DH doeesnt want them I will make them for my lunch. How did he cook yours and how did they turn out?

Carol Sue DH pan fries everything in a pan sprayed with Pam like spray. It was actually very good.

Hopefully your tooth extraction won't be bad. I need to have my teeth cleaned and that filling done, but I think I will wait a while longer. I need to ask more questions from oncologist first. I finally used my battery operated tooth brush tonight and my gums bled. My teeth feel clean so maybe the regular toothbrush wasn't getting everything.

I am looking forward to seeing and fellowshipping with my sisters and BILs tomorrow and it will be nice to go out to eat too. I have missed seeing them.

I'm hoping I can get liver and onions and a couple of veggies. I have often thought that restaurant salads caused me potty problems back when we went out to eat. So I quit eating them. I wonder if they leave it sitting too long.

Hoping for a good nights sleep for both of us. I believe good sleep is healing.

I slept ok, not great but not bad. My throat started hurting last night and now I feel like I'm getting a head cold. First time since 2010 when I retired. This is not a good time for it. I hope I can nip it in the bud. I don't want to cancel the dentist appointment again. Maybe it will be mild.

I cook pork chops on a grill pan sprayed with olive oil spray, so that's similar to yours. These are thin so will only take a few minutes on each side. DH likes them cooked in sauerkraut but I can't have the sodium. I'm looking forward to my pork chops. I really prefer mixed pork chops with the bone but DH only likes boneless loin chops so I buy them. Its strange because his mother always bought bone-in. Sometimes I buy bone-in and cut the bone out for him.

A former coworker told me a lot of restaurants put something on their salads to keep the lettuce from wilting. That might be our problem.

We longer have any restaurants that serve liver. One closed because of Covid and the other took it off their menu.

Carol Sue I hope you aren't getting a cold and sore throat. I pray it will go away so you can stay on plan to g et the procedure done.

We used to go eat at Pizza Hut when they had their salad bar, but they stopped theirs long before covid and never brought it back. Now we get Marco's pizza because it is closer to us. I used to have one of those grill pans but I think I had to ditch it. I intended to buy a new one but haven't. I really would like to have a new set of pans but haven't decided what I want. I also like the bone-in pork chops and used to buy them when I was cooking and I would cut the bone out of DH, but now he does the shopping and cooking so I just go with whatever he does. I hope I can get back to doing all that again soon. My problem at this point is that I just don't feel balanced enough to cook a whole meal. Plus I like cooking in a clean organized kitchen. DH has it too cluttered for me which makes me feel crowded. I've got to be able to get in there and organize it for me.

I'm excited about going out to eat and visiting with my sisters and their Hubbies today. It has been so very long since we went out together. I think it has been a good 6 to 7 months if not longer. If I can't get liver, I will cook it this weekend.

Feel better dear friend and I'll check in later when I get back home. I think DH is wanting to go to the store on the way home.
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Enjoyed visiting with sisters and BILs and was able to eat my liver and onions as well. Now I'm tired ready for a nap.

Carol Sue I hope you are feeling better.