At this time 4 years ago I was on my way to the theatre for my AVR and bypass. Told my valve thank you for the past 4 years and yet again thanked the medical team for theses past years.
When I joined the forum there was less than than 7000 members and now nearly 20,000 there are so many of us with heart issues but the beauty of being here is we are all ready to help each other where we can.
So my thanks also go to the forum for the information I have found, and those of you who have made my smile with some terrible jokes😂 also to Sunnie who as been a sauce of information and fun.
I suppose today is a day for reflection on my last 4 years they have been good and I am so grateful.
I wish you all good health and better times ahead.
Best wishes Pauline
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It is gratitude, to the NHS, BHF and all the lovely Hearties here on the forum, reflection as to our lives now, mine and Johns, as I have said he had quite a big stroke 5 weeks after my surgery, and I became his carer, so having my op as allowed me to take care of him. I read so many posts of other people facing their futures, so it’s great that we are all here for each other.
Happy anniversary, no doubt lots of thoughts and memories running through your head today. I hope they're mainly all good memories of how far you've come.
Anniversary wishes to you. It is amazing how time slips by. It is 13 years tomorrow since Bob had his first heart attack and stents, and was diagnosed with T2 diabetes. It’s nearly 2.5 years since his bypass and stroke - life moves on and we adapt and cope!
Just grateful to be here to appreciate what was done.
You are quite right we do adapt, my husband had a stroke 5 weeks after my op and I became his carer in a matter of a couple of months our lives were completely changed but we have laughed and cried our way through!😊 sending you best wishes to you and your husband, life sometimes just pulls the rug from under our feet!
We were fortunate in many ways that my husbands stroke was a small one that did not affect his mobility, however his ability to retrieve information and to deal with numbers is the most affected - he manages both eventually. He also gets things ‘backwards’ at times which is hard to deal with. He is no longer able to read either as he can’t make sense of what he’s reading.
He now has vitamin B12 deficiency probably caused by years of taking metformin for his diabetes and PPIs to protect his stomach but unfortunately doesn’t understand how the injections make his life better - but that is another story altogether!
John stroke took his left side and quite a bit of his mobility but the worse as been it took part of his sight at the time thought that was the least of our problems but it’s been the worse to deal with! Don’t know about you but I find the thinking for both of us is exhausting! He can go in to a very dark place not as often as he use to but when he does there is no getting through to him. A bit like your husband he forgets things I seem to be repeating myself all the time, now our sons are telling me I am repeating myself to them 😂 Must get out of the habit.!
Bobs stroke came about 8 days after his heart surgeon stopped his Rivaroxaban and amiodorone! It initially affected his memory, speech and his vision on the right. He still has a small area of his visual field where he doesn’t seem to ‘see’ things but is able to drive. He lacks confidence with walking and is slightly unsteady on his feet - I think that’s the B12 but he is unable to comprehend how it all works.
He does get ‘down’ and will get angry and off if he feels I’m questioning what he has said ( we still have a farm contracting business that I have had to take on running) although he is now beginning to appreciate that I’m only trying to clarify what he said!
His understanding of nutrition is haywire and he hardly eats any veg at all which is really awkward in trying to manage his diabetes - he was just getting to grips with it after his bypass but now it’s all over the place.
I agree with you, thinking for two is exhausting and trying to work out what he actually meant to say is difficult sometimes. But he’s still here and that’s the important part!!
He also gets ‘stir- crazy’ after two long spells in hospital and wants to go out all of the time which means I get nothing done!
Life is improving though and we are fortunate to be in NE Scotland and are able to get out and about to lovely places.
I worry a lot about who would care for him if I become ill as he can do things like making tea and toast but he can’t remember where things are to make something like beans on toast.
Hi, we are in the Central Belt, about an hour outside Glasgow, like you my worry is if anything happened to me! He can make a cup of tea but couldn’t carry it! We have 2 sons but 1 is on the south coast and the other is in Perth Australia! They do what they can but it’s long distance.
We celebrated our Golden Wedding Anniversary this year, so like you am grateful he is still here, we have managed to laugh and cry our way through the past 3 1/2 years .
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