I'm 58 years old and overweight, For now I use a power wheelchair but want to wean myself off it. I got one a few years ago because of pain issues.
Losing weight during the height of the pandemic was impossible and at one point I was closing in on 370. I'm now hovering around 350/340's and am making progress. My blood sugar is back to where it should be and my A1C is 6.8.
My blood pressure is bordering but improving w/o meds. I have no insurance and what few doctors I see I can go to because of patient assistance programs. I haven't been to a cardiologist for about 10 years. When I did go, I was told my heart is ok but it's enlarged because of the weight I carried over the years. At one point I was probably around 450 in my late teens/early twenties...then it dropped down to about 240 as I approached my mid-thirties but when Mom died in '99 due to a massive heart attack, I just didn't care about my diet and gained weight again.
I had two hernia surgeries, the first one was strangulated (2009) and second was incarcerated (2011). I mention this because I always gain weight after surgery and both times I was temporarily over 400 pounds.
I saw a cardiologist a year or so after Mom died because I had chest pains and was worried I was following in her footsteps but he told me - after running alot of tests including a nuclear stress test - that my heart was fine except it was enlarged because of all the weight I carried over the years. Subsequent stress tests confirmed this, the most recent was about 10 years ago.
I stopped going due to lack of money and insurance coverage. So here I am, the same age as Mom and was reading up on George Michael. I was curious about what caused his early passing about five years ago and come to find out, he had an enlarged heart too, myocarditis and a fatty liver. I understand he did drugs too, but not sure what kind.
That got me thinking, am I going to end up like him? He was in his early 50's., I'm older. My blood sugar is under control, my cholesterol was never a problem, which is a miracle considering how heavy I used to be. My primary care provider, who I see only because she gives me a break on office visits ($45 each time because I have no coverage) recently had bloodwork done inc. a CMP. All of it came back normal.
My former cardio told me my heart was fine and the only thing going on with it was it was enlarged. I was not put on medicine for that but was told to lose weight, which has been a struggle. I'm finally making progress and am hoping to live long enough to see me get down to where I should be, or close to it anyway, by my 60th birthday next year. That gives me over a year, year and a half.
Am I going to keel over like George Michael did or my Mom? As far as I know, she wasn't a diabetic but had issues with cholesterol. She was supposed to have a stress test but never lived to have it. It was scheduled for mid-June '99, she died the week before.
Can enlarged hearts be reversed with weight loss?
I can't stop worrying about this. I've got alot going on in my life and getting through the pandemic has been very difficult.
Thank you.