HOW CAN YOU
MEND A BROKEN HEART ( VALVE ) Part 1
How can you
mend a broken heart valve,there has been nothing else on my mind for
the past few weeks. Ever since I had an angiogram on October 13 2015
my thoughts have been filled with nothing else.
Me with a
heart problem, you have to be joking! I've always kept myself fit,
I played football until I was 39 I played badminton went hiking and
even now in my 60's I still walk 12 miles, no problem. I'm probably
fitter than most people my age, so what are they telling me. This is
my story and I'm telling it so people I am close to can perhaps
understand what my mind is going through and anyone else who takes
the time to read it will hopefully be aware that you don't have to
show serious symptoms to suffer with heart disease
My problem
started in October 2014 I had just collapsed at home after getting a
piece of chicken stuck in my throat at dinner. I couldn't dislodge it
and I passed out. Theresa my wife told me to see the doctor and get
checked out because this wasn't the first time it had happened. I had
a problem eating white meat, and obviously she was worried, bless
her!
At work I was
also undergoing a stressful situation with redundancies in the
pipeline in our department, and I was deciding whether to retire a
year early or stay on. I had been experiencing bouts of dizzy spells
as well recently which was also playing on my mind, and so I made an
appointment to see a doctor at the medical unit in Measham.
At the
appointment the doctor, who was a locum, gave me a good examination
and said that she was going to get me checked out completely, blood
tests, an endoscopy, and an ECG were all on the menu. She asked me if
I was aware that I had a heart murmur and I said “I have had one as
long as I can remember “ so I wasn't really worried. The tests
were just a precaution and I will be OK. After all I am reasonably
fit and haven’t been ill for some time, years in fact! So I have
nothing to worry about.
The slight
dizzy spells kept coming and I would have to be still until they
passed, just a few seconds. Although one day I was out walking
Lincoln and Richmond ( our two dachshunds ) and I had stopped to talk
to someone in the village. Before I had realised
what had happened I felt dizzy and I dropped to the ground, just a
few seconds later I was getting back up wondering just what was
happening to me!
The endoscopy wasn't a pleasant experience, a long tube being inserted down my
throat into my stomach isn't something I would recommend but the
results showed that I had a minor hiatus hernia, nothing to worry
about! I was back at The Queens Hospital at Burton Upon Trent a few
days later for an ECG and again I wasn't worried as I have been
through this before a few years ago, just a precaution!
I carried on
going to work coping with all the stress that was going on, until one
evening I received a telephone call from the doctor. She asked me why
I hadn't been to the surgery to get the results of my ECG. I said
“I wasn't really worried about them”, and then she said “
well I have referred you to a heart consultant, you have a narrowing
heart valve.”
I still wasn't
that worried, although I now realised that I had a problem. But what
I read on the internet and also what friends were telling me I still wasn't that concerned. They can cure that by inserting a stent!
Whatever that entails. Day surgery is all you will need. Good, no
problem then!
My mind was
trying to cope with the dilemma I was in, do I take the chance and
finish work or do I carry on until I'm 65. I had no desire to carry
on after I was 65 so what do I do!
So before my 64th birthday I decided to
finish work , after 17 years working for Tamworth Borough Council I
had decided to throw the towel in. I wasn't getting a big payout,
just enough to see me through until I officially retire in March 2016
but because of the situation there and my own situation with my heart
I decided to retire early! Right or wrong decision, only time will
tell.
