H A R T - A t t a c k (We Moved - see http://HARTandYVONNE.com): January 2005

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

January 18, 2005 - It Starts

It was a Tuesday, just like any other Tuesday, at 11:13am I received an Email from my wife...

FROM: YVONNE
TO: HART
SUBJECT: YOUR PHYSICAL

You have a physical with Dr. G. on March 28 at 2:30pm. It's just one
appointment. He doesn't do it in stages like Ian does.

Well .. just like that - "It Starts". Honestly, that came out of the blue for me.

In all my years, I have never had a physical. I hate doctors. I hate dentists. I hate all forms of hospitals and people and relatives in hospitals. I think it stems way back from when my grandmother on my father's side, "Baba", died. I used to walk to her place two times a week during my school years between grades 2 and grade 6. I was at the hospital the exact moment she died. There are many hospital stories that I could give you, but they are not too relevant for now.

Anyway, we have been living in our part of town since 1997, and Yvonne immediately found a new family doctor, just down the street. It's the IAN mentioned in the Email .. Dr. Ian something-or-other. He has a medical practice and is partnered with his father, "G" something-or-other. I don't really know his first name, and I don't really know their last name. Everyone is referred to either Dr. I. or Dr. G.

Well, Yvonne really liked this Dr. I. He is a young doctor, maybe late 30's? She already has had a physical, been there for a few ailments, etc. etc. It was 2002 before I had a need to go to any doctor, for my foot. I wanted to get X-Rays to see if I cracked something inside it. But, I never had a family doctor. Naturally, Yvonne recommended Dr. I. So, I went and made an appointment with him.

But - Dr. I. was so popular and not taking any new patients. So, I was 'assigned' to be a patient of Dr. G., the father.

That explains the Doctor.

Yvonne knows that I hate doctors. She also knew that I hate the concept of a physical, because (like most men I figure) .. we don't like strange fingers poking in areas that they don't belong....

But - today - Yvonne had figured that I owed it to her to get a physical, to make sure that nothing is wrong with me, and if something was wrong with me, I could get proper medical attention, and not die and leave her alone.

Can't argue with that.... BUT!! I tried.

I did remind her that in February 2004, when we were cancelled all of our revolving insurance on our mortgage, credit cards, etc .. to get a Term Policy insurance .. we both took a very extensive blood test, and I was given a good clean bill of health.

Well, one thing that I have never been able to do, is change Yvonne's mind once it has been set, so ... I marked March 28, 2005 on my calendar.

HART

Monday, January 17, 2005

January 17, 2005 - About us (Background)

Everything you ever wanted to know about myself and my wife is pretty much documented in our personal website ... http://www.HARTandYVONNE.com

Here's the Reader's Digest Version:

March 1997 - HART and YVONNE meet from the internet .. believe it or not!
September 1997 - HART and YVONNE buy a Condo together
June 1998 - HART and YVONNE rescued Zeus (the cat) from the Shelter
February 1999 - HART and YVONNE and ZEUS adopt Maxxie (the Papillon) from a breeder
July 25, 2001 - HART and YVONNE decide to get married and book August 31, 2002 in a Medieval Themed style wedding

August 13, 2001 - YVONNE Quits Smoking cold turkey

October 22, 2001 - HART decides to quit smoking
November 5, 2001 - HART Quits Smoking cold Turkey

August 31, 2002 - HART and YVONNE get married and HARTandYVONNE.com is born!

September 7, 2002 - HART and YVONNE and ZEUS and MAXXIE adopt Sophie (the Papillon) from a breeder

And we lived happily ever after!

ABOUT YVONNE

Before I met Yvonne, although she smoked slightly, she was an aerobics instructor, and quite healthy. She quit smoking many times before we met and also quit many times. After we met, because I smoked quite heavily, she took back to smoking. When she quit on August 13th, 2001 .. it took her almost 14 months to get off of Nicorette gum, to regular sugarless gum. As a couple, we probably go through 40-50 packs of gum each week.

ABOUT HART

I have always been skin and bones and active in sports, water skiing, and other ways to keep well, not healthy - but in semi-good shape. I have NEVER EVER wanted to quit smoking. Other people would say that I should quit smoking, but I never wanted to. It wasn't until after Yvonne quit, that I noticed it was hard on her that I was smoking in the house. Soon, I was offering to smoke in the basement or upstairs in my office. But, then SIMS (the original) came out and she ended up playing the computer in my office. I didn't like smoking in the basement! So, I decided then that I would quit smoking on October 22, 2001. At that time, I was averaging 43 cigarettes per day. What I decided to do was reduce my intake by 3 cigarettes each day until I quit. I think, due to stress and deadlines, I probably smoked a pack on October 31, 2001 .. but other than that I was on schedule and quit on November 5, 2001. Cold Turkey. I have never wanted to smoke again.

SIDE EFFECTS

I think Yvonne was more affected than me with fighting the urges caused by quitting smoking. I never had any urges to smoke, nor did I use or had the need to use Nicorette. But, I can only assume that it was quite stressful and affected me subconciously. Because by New Year's day January 1, 2002 - I had gained about 30-40 pounds extra weight. Yvonne didn't gain extra pounds, although she was chewing a lot of Nicorette gum. However, I should mention that since we met in 1997 until 2001, I was the cook of house. We did gain a few pounds here and there and over the years .. a pound or two adds up if it keeps coming each year. It's tough when you have a great Stir-Fry and Chili recipe and love to BBQ all the time.

Are we fat? This was 2002 don't forget. This was 3 years ago.

As my story will continue, Yvonne looked about the same, but has been working out religiously and it's more muscle than body fat .. but her weight has been going down, back up, down again, etc etc. I probably looked about the same for the most part, but gaining maybe up to 10-15 pounds extra at any time. I recall thinking that when my back hurted, it was time to lose weight so I wouldn't eat OUT at restaurants that often, until I got the weight down. All in all, I would say at about January 17, 2005 .. we were both about the same weight as we were when we got married.

Take care.
HART

January 17, 2005 - Greetings and Salutations! About this Blog..

Greetings and welcome to this new blog, created August 19, 2005 ..

I have backdated all the entries prior to August 19, 2005 to emphasize the date of occurence, and to maintain this blog in a chronological history of the events as I remembered it.

I created this new blog and named it ....

"HART-Attack"

... because:

My name is HART, and I wanted that to be part of the name

HART_Attack is one of my nickname userID's that I use on gaming sites, such as POGO.COM .. and thought that this name is an appropriately sounding name for a blog with this topic

The topic of this blog is about ....