Our Change in Direction Began with our Dentist

Quote du Jour
    When you come to a fork in the road, take it. ~ Yogi Berra

From the Dentist Chair
Because the rheumatic fever my husband had as a teenager can damage heart valves, when his teeth were cleaned, he needed to take an antibiotic to protect his heart valves from bacterial infection. In the spring of 2009, our dentist suggested that my husband have an x-ray of his heart valves, because if they were not damaged, then he would not need the antibiotic.

Well, his heart valves were not damaged, but…the x-rays showed partial blockages in several arteries. 

Whoa, Slow Down
His cardiologist informed us, like millions of Americans, Mark was one of the unfortunate many who would likely die or be disabled by a sudden heart attack or stroke. Ninety percent of heart attacks strike with no warning, 50% are fatal, and most of the rest are disabling. In-spite of a lack of symptoms, he said Mark’s disease was certain, progressive and that there was nothing he could do about it and to prepare for an early death or disability.

He said Mark probably had bad heart genes and put him on a bag of prescriptions. 

This is NOT a Dead End!
Despite the scary, depressing and discouraging news, we are forever grateful for the 90 minutes his cardiologist took from his extremely busy schedule, to fully explain what really causes a "heart attack." Because understanding the true causes of heart attacks provided a direction to health.

Remembering a comment his dad had made years ago, that Grandpa Cook's heart problems cleared up when he was unable to eat for six weeks, Mark immediately stopped eating anything with cholesterol in it, that means all meat and dairy products.

A New Direction…
Within 6 weeks, Mark was so successful that the rapid lowering of his HDL/LDL numbers even surprised his doctor! That was 70 pounds ago. He is now free of all those prescriptions!

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