A rather dramatic title, but In my case it was probably true !
Ok, so I now feel it is time to bring this out into the open.
The Admin team know about this .
Thank you to Oldfloss and MissUnderstanding for picking up the slack !
Only a handful of others have known about this
And to the ones who knew, thank you for your support and messages 💕🙏
I went out for a run on Monday 27th February
I had been building my short runs up again after 10 weeks off with really bad sinus problems.
Then Monday 27th Feb I did a gentle 2.5 or 3 k run , no problems.
Came back home , stretched, had lunch and started with chest pains and down my arms .at around midday.
After about 30 minutes I realised it was serious and rang 999
At this point it became obvious it was a heart attack!
I called my neighbour and she came in and gave me Asprin on the advice of the 999 call handler, we phoned 999 3 times in total and it was just over 2 hours before the ambulance arrived!
By which time I truly believed I would not survive this .
They gave me the spray under the tongue and also morphine and spent another 15 minutes or so deciding where to take me .
I was going to go by helicopter but they couldn't get one for an hour so they took me to Wolverhampton by road , another 40 45 minutes!
They were literally waiting at the door at Wolverhampton new cross hospital and within 10 minutes of arrival I was on the theatre table having an angioplasty with entry from the right wrist .
They nearly lost me while working on one of the arteries and I remember loosing track of what was happening.
They instantly then had to shock me as my heart went into what they described as a self terminating rhythm .
They didn't even have chance to warn me .
I remember feeling as though I had just hit the ceiling but as I felt I was coming down again I felt reality and awareness returning .
All this was done while being conscious but sedated .
During this procedure they fitted a large stent in one of the coronary arteries and said when I was stable they then needed to consider what to do with another 2 arteries!
I went back in theatre on the Thursday and had another 2 Stents fitted in another artery, and a 3rd artery was considered not necessary to stent but they opened it up with a wire under pressure!
I was warned by the anaesthetist that this procedure would feel like (in his words) 'impending doom'
And he was right !
All this is done while awake as well !!
Just sedated .
But what a team !!!
Absolutely incredible
I came out the next morning on 3rd march .
It's been one hell of a ride both physically and emotionally so far
But still here to fight another day and slowly getting moving again .
I was told by the consultant cardiologist that this heart attack was always going to happen (mainly genetic).
He told me I had been walking towards the edge of a cliff and just happened to arrive there on that day !
I have found out today that there is about 5% damage to the heart but this could have been significantly worse or possibly fatal especially considering the delay I had if my heart had not been strong prior to the attack .
It was suggested to me that this strength was likely down to the running!
So thank you to Couch to 5k and my running beyond the program!
So running may not just change your life
It could well have saved mine ! .
It will be a slow return, but a return non the less and it is expected I will be running again in time !
But of course I will take the time and advice from the cardiac rehabilitation team . 🙏
New to running but loving it so far!
Love/Hate Running
A running joke
RUNNING HAS CHANGED MY LIFE
Running after a heart attack?
