ANGINA - My story

I didn't realise how ill I was, and it took ages for me to get around to seeing the doctor . . . I guess I didn't want to make a fuss. In retrospect this was very silly of me. But read on . . .

It all started about a year ago . . . in July the two of us went on a walking holiday in the Lake District, which involved trotting up and down hills across fields and meadows, and taking lots and lots of photos. We enjoyed ourselves, and went on to stop in Manchester and then Bridlington, always walking and seeing lots of scenic views. In September I bought a new pair of trainers (Asics, just the thing for joint support on hard surfaces, for an overweight runner) but I found that I could only run/ jog for 100 metres before I was out of breath, with tightness in the chest . . . this went on for a few weeks after which I stopped, thinking I was just too unfit and should try something easier. I was feeling depressed about this, but life being what it is, I got so busy doing college one day a week and working four days a week as a teacher that fitness slipped right down the agenda. What I didn't do AND SHOULD HAVE DONE THEN WAS TALK TO SOMEONE . . maybe even the doctor. So, fast-forward to May/ June, I’d been taking public transport to work and college, and I found I had to stop and rest when I walked to the Underground station, after 200 metres.
At this point I felt alarmed because I had never been so unfit before. I still didn't notice the increasingly fast progression from being able to do normal activities (swimming, cycling, running) slowly, to not even being able to walk from A to B.
In July I went to the GP, and things REALLY changed with the ONE HOUR time-slot he gave me. He asked the right questions, and he then worked out how serious my case was. I had an ECG at hospital; they said ‘Everything’s OK, but come back after your holiday’. So, when I got back from Cornwall I went to hospital, where they kept me in for a day to get ready for the ‘treadmill test’ (walking up an incline, faster and faster until you get chest pain). I didn’t last long (three minutes) but with that and lots of blood tests, readings of this that and the other six times a day over a week, they had all the information needed to say that I had ANGINA . . . and they could fix it, because I was on the Fast Track Cardiac Care programme [ http://www.heart.nhs.uk/Heart/Portals/0/presentations/step_up_the_pace/step_up_pace_programme.pdf ]. I went to the Heart Hospital at Harley Street [ http://www.uclh.nhs.uk/Our+hospitals/Heart+Hospital.htm ] on a Monday morning, had the procedure at 13.00 h and was back at the original hospital again by evening. I had an Angiogram [ keyhole surgery, a catheter put into top of leg and pushed up to heart along artery , see http://www.bhf.org.uk/living_with_heart_conditions/top_bhf_publications.aspx, the booklet download called Angina ] with three Angioplasty’s [ tiny steel mesh tubes, stuck in where the artery is clogged up, and these are enlarged to help the blood flow faster ]. You are conscious the whole time, and you can see the entire procedure (operation, to you and I) in ‘real-time’ on huge TV monitors overhead; it sounds weird, but works fine. I was sent home the next day, with three types of meds. The Cardiac Rehabilitation nurse had advised me there is an exercise and diet programme for recovering heart patients, and I am due to join it [ http://www.whittington.nhs.uk/default.asp?c=1677&t=1,3918,249,400 ].

NOW IT'S DIET AND EXERCISE, AND LOWER STRESS . . .

AND STILL HAVING FUN . . .

WOW . . . so far, two weeks after I returned home it’s a new lease on life, much better mobility, no more acute chest pains, no more stopping going up stairs.
That’s the story, and there is only one more comment to add. This made my hospital stay very enjoyable, and made me think again about the commitment of regular medical staff, as well as the specialist doctors and nurses I met.
Starting with the GP’s and the support staff at my usual doctor’s group practice office, and running through my stay for a week at the Homerton teaching hospital in the University College Hospital NHS group, and my ‘procedure’ at the Heart Hospital, I felt that my treatment and well-being was at the centre of everyone’s concern. Yes, there were another 34 patients in the Acute Care Unit, and they all had various treatments and procedures, but I felt the analysis and treatment given to me was the very best. I thanked all the doctors and nurses, and the lovely support staff as well. I’ve just rung the press office at the British Heart Foundation asking them about how my blog might be useful for others awaiting treatment for heart conditions; I’ll e-mail them my blog-link, in case they might want to add it to a ‘case study’.

Yes, if you want to find out more about heart complaints, go to www.bhf.org.uk. They’ve got lots of downloads on diet, conditions, treatments, exercise, smoking, and on and on. I have printed out the full-colour poster on ‘Foods to watch out for’, 'Foods to eat occasionally’, and ‘Healthiest choices’.
I’ve started my Cardiac Rehabilitation programme today, and hope to write a new blog about this. There’s likely to be yet another blog about how I’m losing weight [ BMI of 33 at present, calculated at http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/ ] but I know I need to drop from 215 pounds to 163 pounds to get the CORRECT BMI of about 24.9. Your comments are indeed welcome. I am sorry there’s no pictures in this blog, but more later . . .