No news is good news

My husband had MRI/MRA and ultrasound scans done this week, and next week he will get to wear a Holter monitor for 48 hours. He says he hasn't had any recurrence of the aphasia-like episode that happened two weeks ago.

Except for liking chocolate cake and Reese's peanut butter cups too much, he's always been quite good about eating healthily. Because we're LDS, he has never used harmful drugs, alcohol, tobacco, tea, or coffee. His blood pressure is normal. He's not overweight. He bicycles 25 miles/week (5 miles/day). He willingly drinks skim milk (which I think tastes too watery and can't generally stand).

The only apparent problems are his chronically elevated cholesterol--which appears to be genetic--and his grandfather having died at just 45 from heart disease. Genetics can be so unfair.

My husband is doing what he can diet-wise to address his cholesterol and triglycerides levels. He is taking a baby aspirin a day (and now getting tinnitus regularly as a side effect, so don't believe the websites that say baby aspirin is too low a dose to cause tinnitus--people differ in susceptibility). He is also taking red sage (dan shen) because it contains an ingredient that inhibits the same enzyme as do statin medications, and he has never been prescribed statins. His follow-up appointment with the neurologist isn't until May, and if he needs to address high cholesterol levels now, taking an herbal "statin" seems a logical way to go about it. He's eating far less dessert, bought a new bike helmet that is less likely to allow the helmet strap to press against his throat (don't want to irritate those carotid arteries...), and otherwise living life normally.