Doctors Surgery | Heart attack waiting to happen

Another beautiful morning in sunny Aberdeen… the summer just keeps on coming!

This morning saw my first visit to the Doctor since 27^th June. It seems slightly strange to be so conscious of all aspects of my health but to have limited direct, regular medical oversight.

I’m not sure what I would have expected, but somehow taking the “let us know if anything changes” approach somehow seems a little “light”.

Is it this type of thinking that creates an unnecessarily high demand on the NHS, I wonder?

On arrival at the surgery, I was slightly surprised to discover that the entertainment was BBC London News. I can understand the News aspect, catching up on the breakfast news seems like a reasonable thing to do.

What I couldn’t fathom was why we should be interested in the traffic around the M25 (London Orbital), or how smoothly the various London Underground lines were running (the Northern was experiencing minor delays, incidentally). I can only assume that someone in the Surgery has a cheeky weekend in London planned and is trying to get into the mood a little early. If that’s you, the game’s up! (But have a great weekend anyway!)

London Underground Map… particularly useful if you’re planning on spending the day in Aberdeen!

The Doctor’s consultation itself was an uneventfully positive affair:

My BP (medical speak for “Blood Pressure”) is fine – artificially kept low to reduce the workload on my heart.
My liver and kidney function is “normal” – good news, as a potential side effect of the drugs is that they “break” something else that was working fine before, in particular my liver or kidneys.
My cholesterol is “abnormal”… abnormally low I guess. My total cholesterol reading was 2.9 mmol/L (Good if less than 5 mmol/L) and my “bad” cholesterol is 1.6 mmol/L (Good if less than 3 mmol/L).

Follow the link for more information on High Cholesterol: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Cholesterol/Pages/Introduction.aspx

So, it’s all good! The drugs continue to work!

I was just left with a not so subtle reminder not to rush things or push too hard!

OK… I hear you!

My heart is not allowed to do this… yet!

I have never been great with doctor’s surgeries. I’ve always felt that being “under the doctor” was something to be avoided, an acknowledgement of weakness. In fact, I think this was my first visit to the doctors in over 12 years.

Looking around the waiting room I felt I was healthy, certainly in the top quartile (and that’s including the carers, drivers, etc.). There really seem to be a lot of sick people around these days!

Fortunately the doctor seemed to agree. Given it’s the first time I’ve seen him since the heart attack, he seemed remarkably relaxed about the whole situation. You’d think it was run-of-the-mill. Something he sees every day!

A quick review of my hospital discharge information “letter” confirmed:

I am 42
I have had a heart attack
Stents were fitted to my left anterior descending (LAD) branch
The procedure was a “complete success”
The ECHO revealed mild-moderate damage
I was well following the procedure

So that’s all good!

If they had got my address right it would have been a full house! I don’t know how many times we corrected the address when I was in hospital – they have a hybrid between the flat I lived in when I first came to Aberdeen and my current address. It’s incorrect. Wrong. Useless. The letter helpfully states “An appointment will be sent to the address above”… but don’t hold your breath!

A further review of my medical history revealed:

“The pies may well have been a factor, but the fags are the main culprit.”

It appears that smoking is, far and away, the biggest factor in (my) heart health. I don’t quite understand why I should have had my heart attack after having given up smoking (over 9 months ago), but I did.

Having given up, there have been no guilt-trips or nagging, just confirmation that I’ve “done the most important thing”.

I really would not like to be in my situation and still addicted to nicotine. Smoking is bad for you!

The doctor confirmed that, as the stents are ensuring blood flow to my heart, I should be in better shape now than before the heart attack. My blood pressure is also “perfect”… the pills are working.

So it’s full speed ahead to the next stage of my recuperation… rehab here I come (after a wee nap of course, it’s been a busy day)!