The Strangeness of Growing Older

I took the day off and went to my doctor for a doppler ultrasound scan of the neck arteries and heart. My doc thought he heard sounds of a possible blockage in one of my carotid arteries and wanted to check it out considering my heart problems a year ago and my age. The results won't be back for a couple of weeks but I got to watch the screen while the test was being given. There is a little plaque in the carotids but not anything that appears excessive. The heart seems to be doing ok from what I could see and hear. Valves were closing nicely and I didn't hear any obvious backflow. Of course I'm not a doctor and I don't even play one on TV so I'll have to wait for the official results to be certain. I guess that 37 years of eating fatty foods have left some deposits in the old blood vessels. I've been a vegetarian now for about 15 years. Last year I started a walking regimen and I average about 3 miles per day now. I've also been taking flax/borage oil each day. I've dropped 20 pounds the past year, now down to 176. I would like to slowly lose another 10 pounds and get rid of the rest of the belly fat that has creeped up on me the past few years. Hopefully continuing the diet, oil pills, antioxidant vitamins, and walking will clear out most of the small amount of plaque deposits that are there. I plan on getting healthier doing this over the long haul and avoiding doctors as much as possible. In the meantime I'll let you know when the official results are in.