What do you miss most since your “incident?”
Personally, I really miss exercising and drinking beer. They may both sound like minor things, but I don’t think it’s the act in itself but the socialising that comes with them. What I wouldn’t give to go running round a football pitch and then have a couple of beers afterwards!
Sounds a bit pathetic but it’s true!
Love your honesty
Being able to look after my grandson, not being able to pick him up ven after 17 months!
I’m feel exactly the same, heart attack on NYE, 3 stents fitted. I can’t wait to play cricket, ride my bike and enjoy a few pints.
Go well
Pretty much everything. 😞 My life is so different now to what it was, I hardly think it was worth surviving the HA if I’m honest about it.
Sorry to put a downer on your post Curlyman83. I really do wish you all the best, and hopefully everyone will be able to enjoy going out soon. 😃
I meant to reply to your post, but I’ve obviously wrote it in the wrong section (wave at the newbie!). It’s further on if you scroll down! Try not to beat yourself up - I’m sure there are people out there who are very glad you’re still around! Think positive and keep pushing forward...one day at a time! 👍
Thank you I’ll give it a good go. 🙏🏻 Best wishes for the future Curlyman83. 👍🏻👍🏻
Being able to live without fear
I’ve had an ICD fitted - still terrified if I’m left on my own! Sad but true!
Your confidence will improve. I’ve lived with an ICD for @20 years.
I felt like this from time to time and things have been made worse by Covid restrictions - not being able to see family and friends. But I always reassure myself with the thoughts that people out there are glad to have me around - sure, I’m not going to run that 5k in under 20 Kim’s again, but does that really matter? Yes life is much different, but when you’ve died and been brought back to life, your outlook on things is totally different. I know that being vastly more aware of my own mortality has impacted me in way I cannot describe but it’s also pushed me to kick on - there are things I’m determined to do before I pass on, places I want to visit and people I want to meet. In a way, it’s kind of the wake up call I needed. People spend too much time working themselves to death at a job they hate - I’m not doing that anymore!!!
One benefit for me was having to take ill health retirement. I loved my job, but the freedom is wonderful and I’m now studying a subject at university (distance learning) that I always wanted to).
I’m only 38 so retirement isn’t really a viable option for me. I also love my job - but people take these things far too seriously, and my cardiac arrest has opened up my eyes to this.
It’s hard to excited about arriving at a meeting late or being 0.01% down on productivity after a cardiac arrest! That’s one of the main benefits I think - the sense of perspective. I was also ‘lucky’ because I was 55 when my heart condition became really serious.
Well I went for about 61 years virtually without seeing the inside of a hospital - I miss those NHS-free days!!!And I hate taking any ‘meds’ so now I am fighting a running battle to reduce them.
Just knocked out Amlodipine this week so another battle won!
Having been diagnosed with heart failure I really miss the amount and type of exercise that I used to do - 6 days a week I worked out at the gym for 60 -90 minutes and yoga four times a week. After OHS, MVR and my diagnosis I walk for 30 - 40 minutes 5 -6 times a week. The impact on my weight also bothers me. I average 1800 calories a day and my weight is stable at 10lbs heavier than before surgery. I feel overweight and unfit. The idea of living on 1500 calories until I get the weight off is miserable, especially as my life is already very restricted, as it is for most people at the moment.
I miss my exercise classes. I used to love HIIT and Zumba. I can’t manage walking uphill now. I don’t think it’s my heart but the meds slowing me down (plus I am older).
I think it’s a combination of meds, aging and my heart function for me 😕I had always planned to be a very fit and active older woman. Still aim for that, but without the amount and intensity of exercise it’s hard to watch my body change!
Hi IrisLook at Dr Moseleys 1200 cal cookbook, loads of fresh food, no processed food like bacon, Try mega salads with celery, beetroot, peppers, spring onions, spinach, lettuce(s), hummus, sliced beef or lamb or pork or salmon or king prawns, but no sausages or beefburgers.
Most of all lose the sugar, in all its many forms , forget the bread and cakes, change to apples and nuts for snacks. No diet drinks, colas or fruit shakes.
Really concentrate on getting the weight off, get to feel happy that you are hungry going to bed - it is a sign that your body is burning fat.
Weigh every day, no back sliding and take up gentle exercise - walk a couple of miles a day to help with the fat burning. Concentrate and be determined. Slowly but surely it will go.
I know this sounds like a daft question mate but why can't you have a beer or two now and again? Have you been told you can't because of the medication? I am not aware that you can't drink moderately when you are on most of the common ones, I certainly did although I am now only on a Statin and Aspirin. I am also not aware that there is any real link to moderate alcohol use and heart disease? (Tin hat firmly on).
When I was in CCU my cardiologist asked me how many units per week I drank - because I was so high on medication and totally confused after my cardiac arrest, I told him I had around 60 units a week (in actual fact 15 would constitute a heavy week for me). I was told to stop drinking and so I did. When I brought this up with the cardiac nurse recently, she said if I’ve gone this far without drinking, I may as well carry on as alcohol can cause heart problems. I’ve been drinking 0% beer but it’s just not the same - there’s no way I can go into a pub and drink this all night whilst everyone around me is getting drunk - I’ll end up punching somebody 😂
I think when people like cardiac nurses mention drinking they mean to excess. Excessive alcohol consumption is bad for obvious reasons, however there seems to be a culture amongst some members of the medical profession that seeks to link it with just about everything that could possibly go wrong with you even in low amounts. I would just check that you are OK to have a few with the specific meds you are on and then look forward to May 17th. I started drinking no/very low alcohol beers and wines, to be quite honest most of them are crap with the exception of Adnams Ghost Ship and Shipyard Low Tide IPA, both at 0.5% and available at Tesco. Don't even bother with the no alcohol wine it is all foul in my opinion!
Hahaha! I can’t stand wine anyway - it all tastes like vinegar to me; my palette is obviously not sophisticated enough!
A shame really as red wine is supposedly the only heart healthy alcohol you can drink!
I was told not to drink because it provoked an arrythmia that I have, but my cardio at the time also said that you have to live and have a good quality of life. So I did drink socially, eat chocolate and have the occasional coffee 😊
A couple of pints every now and then are probably healthier than starting a punch up in your local when they finally let you in again. Haven't been in a punch up since I was 18 but I recall the aftermath being highly stressful. Can't imagine moderate drinking on occasion to be an issue, unless your condition explicitly prohibits any level of alcohol, that is. I rarely drink anything these days but when I do it tends to be because I'm in a bad frame of mind and so tend to drink way too much. Is my cholesterol up? No.
I'm not suggesting that getting smashed is ever sensible in any way but I think the odd couple of pints a week should be doable without concern. Maybe make sure that you've eaten first and remember it'll still hit you fast after your abstinence. Good luck and remember: Life is for living!
Hi Curlyman.I had a quadruple bypass 4 years ago and i am currently awaiting an ablation due to AF which started in December 2019.
I've not been out socially for a while (like everyone else) but hope to soon and still have hopes of the occasional beer or two (which doesn't appear to trigger my AF) but I do really miss the freedom of not having to worry about it.
I also live in fear...I get worried when I get too far from my house which is really strange as it’s not some sort of magic place that will cure all my ills! Irrational but true 😂
That is a bog standard part of anxiety particularly health anxiety . To most people home = safety even though that’s not true . There’s a book called The Dare response , Amazon or wherever, might help you with your thinking . ( I have no connection with book or author other than I have read it and found it helpful )
I’ll check it out! Thanks 👍🏼
Not pathetic at all Curlyman. I miss the feeling of never thinking anything will happen to you. My SCA brought mortality to my door. I've always been a strong woman and been through a lot of stuff, but this floored me for a while. Just keep pushing and you could get your game of footie and a celebratory beer. It will all get better hun. ☺ X
Thanks Jowalk! Keep your chin up! You’ll be fine x
You too hun x
Just getting up and going where ever!
Exactly! Lockdown hasn't been difficult owing to my heart wobble in 2019 making me housebound for most intents and purposes already.
For me it's the lack of oomph - oh how I miss the energy to get up and get going whenever the mood strikes!
Doesn’t sound in the least pathetic x
Heavy weight lifting for me. Since my bypass my chest has been too uncomfortable for any weight training plus have moved to more cardio-based stuff but I do miss the weights!
I’ve got a full weight set up in my garage just sitting there - got up to benching 100kg before my cardiac arrest - would be lucky to bench half my weight now. Every time bloods are taken I marvel at how skinny my arms have gotten! Scary how quickly you lose it! Think I’m going to sell all my gear - can bear to look at it every time I go in there!!
Spot on, walking in the countryside and a couple of beers. Paul
doesn’t sound pathetic at all your being honest ... i miss a glass of wine and being able to walk without feeling breathless.. hopefully one day we can achieve some of our old selves x
Hi Curlyman, what a great post and question. I had my event in November 20, Nstemi in left diagonal branch which was a stented. Have been told I’ve got 50% blockage in left circumflex but not to worry about that..😂😂!! Very slowly starting to worry less about that!! Like loads of others have said, I miss not thinking of my mortality nearly every day, but as times marching on I don’t miss thinking of it every second of every day. My event was a huge shock to me as there is absolutely no family history of heart disease, so I kinda thought I was immune to it. My lifestyle was really quite poor, too much bevvy and with that came too much junk food, particularly Indian and Chinese. Since my event I’ve made loads of changes to my lifestyle, I eat a much healthier diet and I have massively reduced my alcohol intake. But I do allow myself to indulge a little more at the weekends. I have a takeaway if I want one at the weekend and I have some alcohol at the weekend too, everyone I have spoken to on my care team have all enforced a message of “enjoy things in moderation” apart from smoking, they are all consistent that smoking is a no no. Thankfully I stopped that 20 year ago. As far as I’m concerned my new approach to things doesn’t seem to be be doing me harm, I’ve lost loads of weight and feel generally much healthier, I just know that if I denied myself things completely I would resent it and would end up back doing the bad things more of the time, which would defo be worse.
I hope in time you are able to return to the things that give you enjoyment, at least in some form.
Take it easy bud.
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