| 57 year
old heart attack victim runs Nissan Toronto Ten-Miler and
has his heart set on the Nova Scotia Marathon in September.
In the summer of 2006 Dr. Michael Irving, a psychotherapist
and sculptor, suffered a heart attack. He was 95% blocked
in one heart artery and 90% and 70% blocked in two other arteries.
If this heart event had occurred 30 years ago he would likely
not be alive today. Dr. Irving says, “My heart blockages
had built up to a critical stage of a walking time bomb that
went off.
His wife’s action of giving him two aspirins to thin
the blood and getting him to Toronto East General Hospital
in minutes began the process of saving his life. Medical interventions
in Cardiac Intensive Care over the week kept him alive through
another three heart events.
Dr. Irving is sure, “Each life-threatening episode
punctuated the reality -- if I do not seriously address the
needs of my health I will not see spring, be a part of my
grandchildren’s lives or finish my publications or projects.”
The undeniable screaming voice of his heart made him resolve
to review the poor lifestyle path he had charted.
Cardiologist, Dr. George Rewa strongly recommended an immediate
triple-bypass surgery. Dr. Irving fought for the option of
angioplasty and three stents. Dr. Rewa cautiously gave his
support. It was emphasized these were only temporary measures.
He was assured, “If you keep up your ways, in time you
will be back in the hospital or taking a permanent rest by
passing to the other side.”
For Dr. Irving “The heart attack was a gift in the
form of a wake up call.” He was tipping the scales at
240 lbs. A work schedule of 60 to 70 hours a week did not
allow exercise or stress release. For Dr. Irving, “The
heart attack made this a sobering time of do or die.”
Following the advise of Dr. Dean Ornish in “Reversing
Heart Disease” he and his wife took up a mainly vegetarian
approach to eating and got rid of all the oils in the house.
While still at the hospital he began walking a slow 20 minutes
a day. “For the next two months I added a minute a day
to the time walking.” After building up the duration
of walking he increased the distance and speed. “I always
wore a Polar Heart Monitor. I kept a constant eye on the heart
rate when walking fast or jogging and would slow down when
I went over my safety zone. There was a balance of pushing
the edge in trying to build my heart and clear the arteries,
but not cause damage or another heart attack.”
“Every day of increasing the intensity of workouts
was shadowed with a fear of risking death. The option of holding
back and staying obese held the certainty of an early death.”
Enrolling in the Toronto Rehab Cardiac Program, “Gave
lots of regular cardiac expertise, a methodical exercise prescription
and a holistic approach to heart health.” Before the
end of winter Dr. Irving reached 20 to 30 miles of walking
and jogging a week and he had lost more than 70 lbs.
At six months into his rehab program, Dr. Irving took a second
battery of physiological tests. The following day Evelyn Rubin,
the Cardiac Rehabilitation Supervisor at Toronto Rehab, called
him to say that in her 25 years at the Rehab Clinic she had
never seen as much change across a broad range of measures.
They expect an improvement of 14% to 15% in one year and he
had an improvement of 46% in 6 months. His VO2 of 26% when
he started was average for a 65 year old and at 6 months his
VO2 increase to 36% paired him with a healthy 40 year old.
“I felt validated for all the hard work I was doing
every day to improve and turn around my cardiac disease. I
was feeling 25 years younger and friends and others were regularly
commenting about seeing the same change. There was an energy
and calm I had not experienced in decades.”
Dr. Irving believes there were a variety of key elements
to reversing his severe heart disease. In addition to exercise
and diet, he took up meditation; did healing visualizations;
took medications and supplements specifically for the heart
and arteries; reduced his work week; spent more time with
family, friends and reading; got more sleep and looked at
dealing with excessive stress.
He now cross trains with an equal time of biking and running
each week. “I find varying activities is better on the
knees and hip joints.” For a first year anniversary
to his heart attack Dr. Irving celebrated with a 75 km Heart
and Stroke Ride for Heart on June 1st and on July 1st Canada
Day he did the 10 km Hbc Run for Canada. One week later he
ran a half marathon and the following weekend Dr. Irving is
run in the Nissan Toronto Ten-Miler that he hopes is a perfect
tune-up for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon at
the end of September.
More than half a million North Americans will die of heart
disease this year. Dr. Irving says, “It became clear
heart disease is the number one killer in North America. I
feel a passion about my own recovery and sharing the gift
of my lessons with others.”
In looking at the activities that brought about dramatic
changes in Dr. Irving’s heart disease he has developed
a program called “Eleven Wisdoms
to a Healthy Heart”. These
eleven tenants are: Family and
Friends, Listen to your Heart, Take Charge, Harmony and Balance,
Heart Healthy Food, Exercise for Life, Health Care Team, Medicines
and Supplements, Meditation and Relaxation, Visualization,
Spiritual Connection.
The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation says, “Cardiovascular
disease is largely preventable.” According to Dr. Irving,
“Through hard work and focused commitment even developed
cardiovascular heart disease can be reversed. Incorporating
the ‘Eleven
Wisdoms to a Healthy Heart’ is a good place
to start.”
When Dr. Irving ran in the Nissan Toronto Ten-Miler
it was one more race to reverse and prevent heart disease.
Dr. Irving would pleased to work with you to develop a healthy
heart lifestyle.
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