Patient of the Month

November, 1999

Dennis Finn

Dennis Finn has been selected as our Patient of the Month for November 1999. He was first seen in our office December 1998 when he was admitted to the hospital with an acute myocardial infarction requiring an emergency coronary stent placement. In addition to his coronary artery disease, he has diabetes and hypertension for the last 10 years. He has dramatically changed his lifestyle and is now managing his diabetes without medicine. He is being managed in our lipid and congestive heart failure clinics. Dennis has written a nice summary of his cardiac experience. Here is his story in his own words:

“I am honored to be patient of the month. However, I must confess I am sorry to be in a position to have been nominated at all. This award is a result of two lifestyles. The first for 54 1/2 years was of neglect and indulgence – not paying attention to diet, not exercising, and ignoring stress. That lifestyle got me type 2 diabetes, a major heart attack and a stent.

The heart attack was my wake up call and resulted in some major changes. It also began a learning process that hopefully will never stop. I started to learn some general ideas in the hospital immediately after, primarily out of fear when the doctors and nurses filled me in on the close call. It worked; I was paying attention. At home, my wife Linda began to study nutritional cooking books and web sites. She developed a terrific set of recipes. We shopped a lot at Loma Linda market and Trader Joe’s, both great stores for healthy living. We even went to cooking classes at Loma Linda Center for Health Promotion. Riverside Community Health Foundation offered a similar class as well as an evening devoted to alternative disciplines.

The weight started to come off and my blood sugar got closer to normal. I started moderate exercise. Then came another treadmill and I was cleared to enter in rehabilitation. Quite frankly, I didn’t look forward to exercising in public, especially in a class of strangers. Well, I was wrong again. Pixie, Charli, Cathy, and Cindy couldn’t be any nicer or supportive. They also are excellent teachers. Naturally my HMO decided to stop paying after awhile, but I continued. After all, $30.00 a month is cheaper than a gym.

So now it’s been almost a year. My diabetes is controlled by diet and exercise. Those meds are long gone. I visit the Rehab center twice a week and exercise on my own at least three times more, I am still losing weight but not fast enough. This month I am planning a hike in Tennessee to the highest point in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. I am just thankful for all the help from my wife, my nurses, my doctors (Chen and Riley) for giving me an opportunity to change, to feel better and hopefully to live a longer and healthier life.”

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