Life is full of challenges - this is just the next one

Being diagnosed with a "lifestyle" condition is different from being diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. It's as if you have failed yourself; let yourself down over the years by not looking after yourself. Let your family down too. When diagnosed its very hard to be non self-judgemental. (Is that a word?) It must also be very difficult for a consultant to be non-judgemental too.

The new consultant is a very nice guy indeed. Very thorough in his examination and very "kind" in his responses. He spent about 45 minutes with me yesterday and went through my entire medical history with me, including the lymphoma. He explained carefully what the initial ECG tests had shown (an anomaly in the peaks and troughs of the trace) and whether this really does mean that I have had a heart attack that I don't know about - I might have done. He also explained what he plans to do with me.

On Monday, he will give me another ECG check and an echo-cardiogram to see what the heart is doing. He's also going to put me on a 24 hour blood pressure monitor so that we can see what's happening there. I have known it to be high for ages, but it's not easy to get it down. Still, when we know what the real problem is, (if being a bit overweight isn't it), we will know the task ahead. I see him again on Friday evening. But, there are things that can be done that would be helpful, regardless of the diagnosis and tests next week. Basically, watch what you eat, what you drink and walk about more.

So, that's what we're doing, from today. We don't have an unhealthy diet, to be honest, but re-examining it won't harm and a little less red wine won't either. The dog will get more walks than she might care for, but that's just too bad. So, let's see how much weight can be lost before Christmas.

I reckon I can lose half a stone - we will see...