Feeling Good | Heart attack waiting to happen

I’ve realised that I have a tendency to write about days when I’m not feeling great. Sorry! I guess it’s a way of sharing my thoughts… I am still very much in the “coming to terms” phase of being a Heart Attack Survivor. There are a lot of new things that go with it; medication, dietary control, regular exercise, anxieties (my own and other people’s) etc. etc. I guess illness is one of the more worrying!

Well, I’m pleased to report that for the past few days I’ve been feeling good! I feel like I’ve fully recovered from whatever was hanging over me. All signs of malaise and tiredness have gone. All is good with the world!

I guess one of the reasons feeling under the weather is newsworthy is that I’ve been feeling good most of the time since I left hospital. I recognise that’s a good thing… just not newsworthy.

I did a couple of good rides over the weekend. Having struggled during exercise generally last week, it was great to get back in the saddle and resume my training.

On Saturday we went over 25 miles for the first time. There’s a long way to get up to the distances I’ll need to cover during my Charity Ride, but it feels more doable now, particularly as my recovery is getting much faster as well.

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This week sees my first business trip since the Heart Attack. In fact, I’m sitting in my hotel room as I speak, having successfully negotiated the tricky drive from Manchester to Lancaster. The drive was built up as a potentially treacherous route (people have been known to go missing for days attempting it), but it turned out to be fairly straightforward.

Travel has been a feature of my work life for as long as I can remember. This trip requires a short return flight and two nights away. Absolutely run of the mill under normal circumstances, but normal circumstances went out of the window a while ago! So it’ll be good to get it out of the way. Another “first” ticked off the list!

Not today’s destination I’m afraid…
maybe next time!

I’m also pleased to report that my Stents do not set the Security Alarms off at the Airport (at least not on this occasion!). Another relief! Happy days! 🙂

I have some days when I wake up in the morning with a feeling of excited anticipation for the day ahead. Today wasn’t one of those days.

The feeling has, however, grown as the day has gone on. My immediate reaction was that I’ve overdone it, I’m exhausted, but I’m happy to confirm that this is not the case!

It’s amazing what a bit of targeted pottering can do to raise the spirits! Today was my first official day of “preparing to return to work”. Given Wimbledon has finished and it’s a rest day in Le Tour, it could hardly have been planned better!

I’m up to over 30 mins on my twice daily walks now. I have found a circuit that takes between 14 mins (fast, hard) and 15.5 mins (steady, comfortable). Today was a comfortable day. The sun put in an early appearance too. I was home and hosed early. A great way to kick the day off.

The rest of the day was spent connecting…

Life in a bubble (with connecting tube)

Communication was difficult immediately after the Heart Attack… not the easiest thing to drop into casual conversation (“Oh, and by the way, I’ve just had a Heart Attack”), and not something that you can leave out (“No, everything’s fine. Honest!”). So, the easiest approach is to avoid the conversations. People who need to will find out in time, one way or another. As a result, it’s very easy to live in your own little bubble. Comfortable but isolated.

For a short time this helps. You get rest, not tired out by visitors. Protected from the stresses and strains of every day life.

Eventually you need to re-connect, catch up, make contact. This is not as easy as it sounds. The longer you’ve been in the bubble, the more difficult it is. The world moves fast (or at least it feels like it does when you’re not moving with it!). Today was my day to grab the bull by the horns…

The day included a (very) brief client meeting and a “news” release on the website to announce my imminent return (so much easier than having to announce that I was sick!). Both were small things, but felt big to me.

Website Photo by Daughter #2
[Not sure how long the facial hair will last!]

The highlight of the day was re-connecting with a couple of really good friends*. Being men, I am confident that now we have spoken about my Heart Attack, there is no further need to discuss it. More than anything, I think this has helped me feel like the worst is behind me (and, fortunately, that really wasn’t that bad either).

Oh… and I’m hopefully going fishing tomorrow! 🙂

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*Pete – I know I need to call you, sorry!