Science and history lessons this week

Heart blog 2-10-12

Although it was probably high school English classes that propelled by career, I always liked science and history – with some notable, teacher-personality-or-competence-related exceptions.
So it was interesting developing the stories for this weekend’s Heart Month Package. I got a history lesson on heart care in Johnstown from Dr. Madgi Azer, and science lessons from three different heart doctors: Samir Hadeed and Genevieve Brumberg from Conemaugh Health System and Saad Alsaab from Somerset Hospital.
I knew about stents, for instance, but having Alsaab describe the exact process of inserting and expanding the tiny mesh tubes to hold open formerly blocked heart arteries was fascinating.
I knew about implanted pacemakers and defibrillators, but I didn’t know you could adjust the device setting over the telephone.
I'll be sharing all that and more in this week's package of stories at www..tribdem.com
Stuff like this makes this job fresh and interesting every day. It also helps me embrace new technologies and media – including blogs!
We had a great discussion about blogs yesterday at a staff meeting Web editor/sports writer Eric Knopsnyder has been blogging about high school wrestling.
http://knopsnyder.blogspot.com/
Web reporter Justin Dennis’ blog, OMNIpixel, brings the latest Internet news to the tribdem.com website.
http://omnipixel.blogspot.com/
And then there is this blog.
http://johnstownhealthbeat.blogspot.com/
Eric described the three blogs something like, “They are as different as they can be.”
His is more like a newspaper column on wrestling, bringing stuff together in a way that today’s print space does not permit. Justin’s is bringing in a whole different universe for the traditional newspaper world. And mine, let’s say, became pretty personal.
I started this last year for Heart Month, and I admit I was embarrassed to read the almost-final entry from February 2011:
“While I will wrap up the heart month postings today, I plan to keep the blog active. I will update less regularly as time permits, perhaps when I’m working on my latest Health Matters monthly feature or another health story.”
Needless to say, that didn’t happen.
I think the problem was this blog started because I was a little frustrated going into last year’s premier Heart-month progress. I knew I wanted to write a lot about prevention and healthy lifestyles, and I was asking myself, “Who is going to listen?”
I had been writing similar advice for almost 10 years and had to confess I was not even taking it to my own heart. At the time I was about 212 pounds, hovering between “overweight” and “obese” for my height (according to the National Institutes of Health), and not in anything like an exercise routine.
So I started the blog to share thoughts on the project, while logging my own new heart health program. I kept up the program, dropping another 14 pounds in the ensuing months, but I dropped the ball on the Health Beat Blog.
I do enjoy this and hope I can keep it going after the month is over. The problem is, I want to talk about health primarily, and not about me. I mean, who cares, really?
But it does help to talk about progress – or lack thereof. I don’t always understand my body. Some days, I do my walking, eat right and seem to be up a pound or two, or unable to drop any. Then yesterday, I didn’t take my 30 minutes to walk, but went out with my Lovely Bride for some chicken wings and beer. Two beers, and six wings. Today I was down a half pound to get back below 190. I don’t get it.
I forgot to mention that on Wednesday, we both went back out after I got home from choir practice and did a couple laps of Richland Town Centre, from Walmart, around to Best Buy and back. OK place to walk at night, except we experience first-hand (or first-face) what I saw on TV later was a wind-chill factor of 12 degrees!