Bio: Dr. Michael Rollert, 36, is a surgeon practicing with Rocky Mountain Oral and Maxillo- facial Surgery in Denver. He did his undergraduate studies at Kansas State University and got his dental degree at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, where he was class valedictorian. He trained in oral surgery at the Medical College of Virginia.
Long office hours and surgery had him grabbing meals on the go and skipping exercise except on the weekends, which he spends with son Griffen, 6, and wife Stephanie Riggs, the former KCNC-TV Channel 4 anchorwoman.
The challenge: While he knew coronary disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol runs in his family, Rollert didn’t know he had a problem until a January scan revealed calcifications in five sites on his heart. A subsequent test found his total cholesterol to be 276 mg/dl, well above the the recommended 200 or less.
“It was high in all ranges; my doctor was blown away,” Rollert said, crediting his wife for recommending the heart scan.
His doctor put him on Zocor, but Rollert knew he had to change his diet and start exercising, fast. He dusted off his medical textbooks and gave himself a refresher course in nutrition and exercise.
How he’s doing it: Rather than sleeping in until 6:30 each morning, he sets the alarm for an hour earlier and runs or goes to the gym four or five days a week. Rollert began running about a mile at a time and now is up to 4 to 6 miles one or two days a week. At the gym, he concentrates on cardio exercise.
Rollert also takes the time to pack a lunch each morning instead of hitting one of the fast-food restaurants near his southeast Denver office. A grilled chicken sandwich, salad and fruit have replaced burritos and burgers in his diet.
Dinner, which Rollert cooks most evenings, now consists of chicken, fish and vegetables. The family eats minimal red meat, butter and fats, he says. He also began taking a daily low-
dose aspirin to thin his blood, and takes coenzyme Q10 and omega-3 fish oil supplements.
When Rollert had his cholesterol checked two months after the first appointment, it was down to 164, a drop of 112 points. And his coronary risk factor went back into the normal range. He stopped taking Zocor. A test last week found his cholesterol at 188, a level in the healthy range achieved without medication.
Motivation: “I’m thinking about the quality of my life, being healthy, not feeling tired,” Rollert says. “The stress is easier to handle.” He also thinks about his maternal grandfather, who had multiple heart attacks before dying of one. Both of his parents are on drugs to control their blood pressure and cholesterol.
Still working on: “The diet is hard to stay on when you go out to restaurants. It’s difficult to make good choices,” Rollert says.
He’s also not good about eating breakfast, but instead of snacking on the junk food or candy in the office like he used to, he’ll try to grab some cereal, yogurt and fruit. “I used to love ice cream,” he says, adding that he now has sherbet if he gets the urge for a cold, sweet treat.
Best advice: “As a doctor, I tell people all day long what they are supposed to do, but it took something like this to make me realize what I needed to do. It’s not reinventing the wheel, just doing the stuff everyone recommended about eating and exercising.”
-Suzanne S. Brown
Do you know someone who has lost a lot of weight, rebounded after an illness or made a healthful lifestyle change? Send a name, daytime phone number, a description and photo to Fitness, The Denver Post, 1560 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202, or e-mail to living@denverpost.com.
