Sunday, 27 January 2019

Realising the fear

My Father died from a heart condition when I was about 6 or 7.  I later found out it was called "coronary thrombosis" which is hardening of the arteries around the heart.  As I was later to learn, it's hereditary.

I suppose I always tried to shut out the possibility it might happen to me, but hey ho, I was wrong.  I have been a smoker for most of my adult life, which hasn't helped things, but in 2016 things came to a head health-wise.  I had a chest infection that never seemed to clear, got really short of breath, was struggling to walk anywhere near as far as I could and started to get chest pains.  you might say I was a little scared....

I stopped smoking and went to see the doctor, and the next step was off to hospital to the chest clinic to see a specialist and have the basic tests done.  I was told that in all likelihood I had some form of heart condition, and was booked for a CT scan.  This took forever to come about, due to a couple of cancelled appointments.

 My basic health improved (got rid of the nagging chest infection), and was put on statins as a precaution.  But pretty much went into my shell, afraid to push myself in case I triggered anything. I still struggled to walk distances and was wheezy on top of that. I struggled to carry anything heavy and was afraid to try until I really had to. 

In mid 2017, I finally had my CT scan.  It confirmed I had a heart condition, with partial blockages of some of the arteries around the heart with a build up of Cholesterol.  I was lucky in that it was early enough to be controlled with statins and that not all the arteries were affected.  However, I was still stuck in my shell, afraid to push myself in case.... 😔


No comments:

Post a Comment