Anniversary | Heart attack waiting to happen

What a difference a year makes… exactly fifty-two weeks ago I was having a Heart Attack.

Tonight I’m enjoying the early stages of England’s World Cup adventure*. In a few hours I’ll be setting off to cycle from London to Brighton as part of the British Heart Foundation’s annual flagship event.

It seems an awfully long time ago that I was whisked into hospital to undergo an emergency angioplasty. It was surreal at the time, and doesn’t seem any less bizarre an experience now.

The intervening twelve months have introduced many changes in my life; some were sudden and immediate, the aftermath of the event itself, others have occurred a little more gradually, new habits and behaviours that have fallen into place over time.

From what I’ve read, it sounds like many people who experience Heart Attacks, or are given stents as preventative treatment, do not make much of an effort to change their lifestyle. They abdicate all responsibility for their long term health to their Doctors. This is one of the main arguments against extending the use of statins. This definitely hasn’t been the case for me!

One of the things with Coronary Heart Disease is that it doesn’t get better; it stays the same or deteriorates. Modern medication is fantastic in reducing the risks of living with it by lightening the load on the Heart and thinning the blood, however they don’t treat the underlying condition. Stents also treat the symptoms, not the disease.

Despite increased awareness and medical advancements, Coronary Heart Disease is still the UK’s biggest killer. (www.bhf.org.uk)

Personally, changes to my diet and regular exercise have resulted in dramatic changes. I am fit and, although I wouldn’t describe myself as healthy, my life expectancy has increased significantly (to be fair, it wasn’t looking that hot a year ago!).

For me the London to Brighton Bike Ride will be a celebration and, hopefully, a fun day out. For others who have been touched by Heart Disease, it may involve an act of remembrance or gratitude. Good luck to each and every one of them!

Hopefully it will also serve as a reminder or a prompt for others… just think about the thousands of people that will be impacted by Heart Disease before the next Father’s Day, Each and every one of us can make a difference!

***

*Actually I’m sleeping as I was too tired to stay awake any longer, big day tomorrow, etc. Burning the candle at both ends is a thing of the past! 🙂

Twenty years ago today… I started out on the first steps in professional life.

Dressed in my new suit and shiny shoes, I made my way from Clapham to White City on the London Underground. I suspect I may have had some sort of briefcase with me, filled with joining instructions, forms and maps. I definitely had the wide eyed stare of someone who really had no idea what they were letting themselves in for.

The journey was traumatic. The timings uncertain. There was no way I could be late on my first day. I suspect I was early… very early. I think I also did the trip the previous day, just to be sure of where I was going.

I was keen, naïve, young, Impressionable and ambitious. My new life extended in front of me.

Jordan was the king in ’93!

It was a very memorable date for me, and not just because I started proper work:

A new group of graduates started at the company I worked for every couple of weeks. The initial assignment was 6 weeks training; 3 in London (home for me) and 3 in a training centre just outside Chicago. It was 6 weeks of burning the candle at both ends, of working hard and playing harder, of adrenalin and caffeine, alcohol and coffee, of team-work and competition. Exciting times!

Best of all, we got paid for it!!!

For the first few years, we became known by the date of our start group. We were brothers in arms, linked by the bonds forged over the first few weeks. People in the group immediately before us or after us might as well have worked for a different company. I was part of the 4th October 1993 Start Group.

The memories are vivid, but it seems such a long time ago.

Anyone who knows me won’t be surprised to hear that I don’t stay in touch with any of my Start Group colleagues. The regular get-togethers only lasted a few months for me. I found new friends, formed new bonds, took on new, bigger challenges.

I’d like to think I’ve recently come to the end of a cycle and started another. Where will this one lead?