All Change

I don't wish this to become a heavy or scary blip; it's more of a life entry and reminder that I would like to share with the world.

From today my life has forever changed!


I have said this to myself in the past but didn't stick to it; now I'm paying the price.

On Saturday, I was tinkering with my little electric scooter, adjusting the folding mechanism. I started to get a hot flush, and my chest felt uncomfortable. This feeling turned into a dull pain. I know enough to take these signs very seriously, so I lay down on my bed to keep relaxed and waited. "It must go away soon? It can't be serious, can it?" It didn't go away, so I called an ambulance and was hospitalised.
The Taiwanese doctor approached me and said in perfect English, "You had an Acute Myocardial Infarction!" What the hell is that, I thought whilst typing it into Google. A heart attack!!!!!!!?? No way!!! But I did have it; it was true.

Background time! I'm late fifties and carry quite a lot of extra weight, but I don't smoke or drink(not for a long time). I have ridden a bicycle to work and back for the last four years. I also have a genetic disorder that makes my body churn out above average amounts of cholesterol. Throw into the mix a large dollop of high blood pressure, and you have a pretty good idea.
Doctors told me in the past to take statin drugs to reduce my cholesterol, along with all the stuff everyone hears every day. Eat healthy food, exercise more, get plenty of sleep, don't smoke or drink, Da de da. You have heard it a million times. This is precisely why nobody takes any notice of it until It's too late!


Why do things always happen on weekends and holidays? I had to lie in a bed in intensive care for three days prior to my surgery.
From what I could work out, there were three possibilities:

1. It's minor; medication and lifestyle changes will fix it.
2. It's pretty severe; the arteries have become partially blocked. Stents(insertable metal tubes and used to open the arteries) + actions from option 1.
3. The arteries are significantly blocked. The surgeon can't fit stents, and I will require bypass surgery.

Worry, worry, and more worry. Three days on your back with nothing to do, and your head explores all kinds of horrific scenarios.

During surgery, I will cut to the chase, which involves a catheter being inserted into the radial artery in the wrist (see the puncture wound in the photo); it then winds its way to the heart where the surgeon can examine the arteries. "I will fit two stents!" says the surgeon. The procedure took around fifty minutes, and I was back in the ICU for observation.
Two days later, I'm sitting here writing this. If I follow doctors orders and do what they say, I should be fine, but it has had a massive impact on me emotionally. I thought that I was bulletproof, "That shit always happens to other people!" Let me say that we are all those other people.

This story has another twist to it. It's fair to say that my heart broke twice on that fateful Saturday.

I messaged my girlfriend of three years to tell her I was in the hospital and could she come and help me. She was working in another city and couldn't come.
The doctor asked for her to come in soon because it was serious, and he wanted to discuss the procedures with us together. "Oh, I can't. I have a meeting on that day, sorry!" She replied.

These words were from a woman who told me how much she loved me daily for the last three years!

What can we take away from this story?

1. Even if you think you are healthy and fine, get frequent health checks. Follow advice. Beware of "Internet gurus"!
2. Look very carefully at your lifestyle, don't say, I'm fine, I can fix things later, maybe later won't come.
3. Be the best person you can be every day! If you say you love someone, then really love them! Be there for that person no matter what!