Matters of the Heart

Yesterday my father in law had an angiogram to see about a heart issue they had noticed during a stress test. Turns out two arteries are so clogged that the doctor hadn't seen it this bad before - said we should see the films because it was so "impressive" that he was able to function normally with as advanced as the calcification was. Next week he'll be getting bypass surgery - they'll be putting in nine bypasses. He'll also get a defibrillator put in that same week. Apparently he's at the point where diet and exercise can't fix it but it can keep a heart attack at bay for a few more years. What's worse for me is that it's a hereditary coronary disease. Matt smokes, drinks, and eats horribly when I'm not the one feeding him. So Matt promised he'd quit smoking as soon as this pack ran out - everyone, please pray for this! I'm also putting the entire household on a diet. I think we'll eat Mediterranean mostly because it's supposed to be the heart healthiest and most of the meat is fish. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mediterranean-diet/CL00011 Even with this over their heads I doubt I can get three Midwesterners to come to the veggie side. ;-) So this means I need to relearn to cook, which I was going to do when we got home anyway. I'm getting a juicer for Christmas so that will be an awesome help. If anyone knows any rockin' healthy recipes please send them my way as all my recipes are in a storage unit in Washington.