Well, when I was 26 years old (many moons ago, I'm now 59), I had gone to my doctor for a checkup. She said my blood pressure was high. I was also very obese (over 200 lbs).

I remember being put on some blood pressure medicine that was also a water pill. I believe it was called thiazide (who the heck can remember all those years ago).

So from that moment on, I was always on a blood pressure pill. Either monopril, or vasotec, or one of the other prills. And it was always the same dosage (all through the years) 10 mgs.

So two years ago I go to Cornell for my diabetes and while my blood pressure was okay, because I was IN THEIR PROTOCOL ((ACTUALLY TWO PROTOCOLS)). One protocol was the diabetes protocol and the other was the blood pressure one.

Something to do with goals and to get my blood pressure to a certain level because I am in a study to see how diabetics are prone to get strokes and heart attacks. All I knew was they took care of me and gave me all my meds and testing strips.

So I began the study doing 10 of the lisinopril. Then for some reasons, they were not happy with the numbers. So they added a water pill to it.
So for about 18 months now I am on Zestoretic 20/25.
Breaks down to 20 mg lisinopril and 25 of hydrochlorothiazide (hah, there's that thiazide name again) lol.

When I go to Cornell (about every two months), they hook me up to this special machine that takes my pressure 3 times. But the machine broke so they had to do manually and average it out.

All I know is whenever I go there and my numbers are, let's say 109/59 or 105/62 they jump for joy and they go....wow, look at those numbers.

I think it means I'm not at risk for a stroke even though I DO have diabetes.

She said yesterday. "Well, you're not doing so good on our diabetes protocol but you're doing wonderful on our blood pressure protocol.

I knew what she meant. In the diabetes protocol my goal was to reach 170 after two hours of eating and to get my A1c from 9 (when I began), down to 7.5.

Well, I got my sugar reading down to 130 two hours after eating and my A1c to 6.0. So that BROKE their protocol. They laughed and said to me "you did TOO GOOD!!! But they said I did good in their blood pressure protocol. I reached the goal that was set for me.

So they are happy with my numbers. I know that most docs think a blood pressure reading of 120/70 is perfectly fine and I think so too but at Cornell, the study is about heart attacks and strokes in woman who are diabetic and they believe the lower blood pressure readings mean the less chance for stroke and heart attack. At least that's what they told me.

And I'm certainly not going to argue with anybody who tells me I'm getting narrower. I mean really!!!!!!

melody

Oh, I have a good recipe for all you potato lovers out there. Alan eats one potato every night. Now if I bake it or microwave it, you get ONE POTATO, right? You can put whatever you wish on it but it still is ONE POTATO, right??

Well, guess what I discovered??? you take an Idaho potato and you get a food grater (like when you want to make hash browns). I bought a V slicer so it comes with this grating attachment thingeee.

Well, I grated one potato and you have no idea what one potato looks like when it's grated. And when you add some sliced onion and put some PAM in a frying pan (with a splash of extra virgin olive oil). And you cook it up. you COULD FEED 4 PEOPLE with the amount. Don't ask me why, it fills up my whole frying pan. Alan goes nuts and you'd think you just cooked 4 potatoes. Honestly!!! You have to try this.
Sometimes I give him only half of what's in the frying pan . THAT'S HOW MUCH IT MAKES!!! One stupid potato!!!! Try it.

Melody