Heart Attack to 10K (part 2) - Back home & drama at White Hart Lane

BACK HOME & DRAMA AT WHITE HART LANE
(Phase II – home recovery)

Not the New Year's Eve I had planned but I was home!!

4 to 6 weeks off work, no driving for a month, lots of rest, no lifting – welcome to phase II of a cardiac event. Sounds good but it soon becomes tedious, never mind at last I get to see those photos that had led to all this excitement in the first place [see part 1] and that was about it for the first week or so, sitting in front either the TV or computer or reading a jolly good book I got for Christmas about a tale of a Chairboy who missed that famous FA Cup run* with the odd excursion past a few neighbours houses and back mummified with my WWFC scarf wrapped tightly around my head to keep the cold air at bay. The instructions were simple enough, plenty of rest and start slowly with gentle short walks, a little light dusting etc. and gradually build up the pace and length of the walks and resume normal daily activities over the next 4 weeks.

* 'Small Town Dreams' - small commission can be paid into my bank account (inspiration for this blog? - who knows)

The doc initially signed me off for 4 weeks to review how I was feeling again nearer the end of that period but in those early days it is very difficult not to worry about every ache and pain and there are plenty of them. You do start to wonder if all these twinges are to be expected and if others experience this as well, but the doc didn't seem to worry so I guess they are normal. It became a greater worry when a similar dull ache to that of my heart attack put my nearest and dearest into panic mode and it’s straight off to the doctors for yet another ECG before being reminded to 'take it easy'. I noticed in the past as soon as you mention chest pain there is an immediate response, I've had the ambulance rush to my work place before, which is good but it does make you wary about reporting every little twinge and wasting the doctor/paramedics time. 

I’m not one for just sitting around twiddling my thumbs and soon get restless. My daughter, son-in-law and grand-daughter had moved out from their temporary accommodation in our living room just before Christmas and there were jobs that still needing doing sorting out our house and taking down the Christmas decorations, I found it very frustrating not being able to get on and do some of these tasks while having so much spare time on my hands.

Being the founder and honorary secretary of Totterdge (youth) football club in 1996, I had never missed a club committee meeting in all those 21 years, but under the explicit order of the club chairman was forced to excuse myself from both the Jan & Feb meetings bringing an end to a run of 230 consecutive meetings. A previous member had used 'washing his hair' as a regular apology but it took a 'myocardial infarction' to keep me away! It was reported that the meetings were shorter and more efficient, not that I really believe that, but somehow the club managed to survive and I am eternally grateful to the club committee for forcing me to rest as I was finding anything physical or mental quite tiring during this period.

With football being a massive part of my life, the worst part was having to sit by the radio and listen to Phil Catchpole on BBC 3CR for the match commentary as Wycombe Wanderers beat Newport County 2-1, most of the time I love to listen to his intricate ramblings but not when they were playing just down the road at Adams Park, it just wasn’t right, I never miss a home game, but a snow flurry had put paid to any chance of me getting back to the footie - needs must and all that.

But my tenacity got the better of me and I was determined to follow my own 'small town dream' and make the Stourbridge FA Cup game come hell or high water - only severe blizzard could stop me. So for my first outing just 9 days after having a coronary angioplasty I arranged a lift to the ground, a space in the lower car park and a seat just outside the Woodlands bar so I could always retreat inside should I need to. Alan Cecil reserved me a seat in the Vere Suite so I had somewhere to rest before the match but on reaching the bar the 'full' signs were up and there was a long queue outside, I was directed to the steward at the back to let me in and just as I was about to explain my predicament a lady waiting in the line suddenly shouts “you're that man who had a heart attack!” - my fame had spread far and wide (well, High Wycombe at least) thanks to facebook!. My personal gratitude go to Amanda for saving me a car space and Damien for arranging and escorting me to my seat, stopping off in the control box to introduce me and so they knew where to point the CCTV when Bayo scored the winner – I was really starting to enjoy this new found minor celebrity status I had suddenly gained.

The draw for the 4^th round left me in a bit of a quandary, should I go if we get a Man Utd or similar away, or is that just being a little too ambitious?  And so it came to pass – first out of the hat ‘Tottenham Hotspur will play Wycombe Wanderers!!’ Oh wow!! brilliant, a Premiership side just down the road (sort of), it didn’t take long to decide I was going and the best way would be door to door coach service as I really didn't fancy fighting the crowds on the London underground. I must point out though, this was against some family advice who thought I was mad to be even considering it, but come on, Spurs away?! Thankfully my eldest son Paul agreed to accompany me as my minder, but I think he was really after my 2^nd allotted ticket. The biggest disappointment was not being at work to tease my boss who is a big Spurs fan, but hey-ho!

Troll hunting

I’d been suffering this annoying tooth ache since before the heart attack and now I was getting more mobile it was about time to get it sorted, so came about my first outing on my own as I took a rare trip on a bus into town. There were definitely some advantages from not using the car, the kids seemed to be coping without the services of ‘dad’s taxi’ and I was building up a nice little reserve in my account from saved petrol money.

During the week my wife looks after our grandkids and they made a welcome distraction throughout my convalescence. After about 3 weeks of sitting around and getting fidgety I was looking for any old excuses to get out and decided to take them to look for 'trolls' in the woods, just a short stroll down to the Dolphin and back really but it was only after that it dawned me what the hell would I have done if 2 year old Elijah had refused to walk? I certainly couldn't carry him, it was a good reminder just how vulnerable I was and the need to avoid getting into tricky situations. Still, undaunted the next day, having survived the troll hunt, I made my return to the Chairboy family on the Adams Park terrace behind the goal, with the option to retreat to the stand, for the visit of local adversaries Luton Town and did my very best to stay restrained against those mad hatters from across the county border during the 1-1 draw for a rare point against a team we can never beat at home.

Me & the Chairboy army

And so we come the big day out, I'm not going to dwell on the match details as they are well covered but suffice to say I was bloody glad I made the effort to go. From arriving in Tottenham, walking down the High Road to the Beehive public house and soaking up the pre-match atmosphere, having my first pint (as a special treat - but it was awful) and Paul setting a pace I could barely keep up with on the way back to the ground. The match itself?, an unbelievable start, 2-0 up and could/should have been 3 (although Spurs did have their chances), I was coping extremely well and keeping my excitement levels in check. Then came the Spurs fight back, 2-2 could we hold out for a replay?, with clock ticking down and just 7 minutes remaining Wycombe do the unimaginable .... Weston zips down the wing leaving Dier standing in his wake and sends over a pin-point cross onto Thomo's head, he re-enacts that moment of magic by Roy Essandoh as in slow motion he plants his header firmly in the back of the Spurs net - 3-2!!  I was up, arms raised with everyone else as the Wycombe end erupts in pandemonium when suddenly I felt this sharp horizontal pain rip across my chest - Oh god!, what have I done!, straight back down in my seat as Paul and the rest of the Chairboy army are frantically celebrating like lunatics all around me while I'm haunted by that family advice of 'you're bloody mad to go'. Thankfully that's all it was, just a sharp pain and I was OK after that but it did give me a bit of a scare. Tottenham go on to score 2 late-late injury time goals and Wycombe made a gallant exit from the cup having held the lead for 53 minutes compared to Spurs nano-second in the 7th minute of added time, but what a game. The idea of door to door service was blown away with a not so scenic walk around the back streets and tower blocks of north London to find our coach, but still I was just so glad to have been able to join the 'blue army' on such an epic day so soon after coming out of hospital - even if with a little reminder to take it steady!

I've seen some great Wanderers performances over the decades going right back to the 70's and this was right up there with the matches that will be talked about for years to come, and when my grandson asks ‘were you there when ….’ I can say ‘hell yeah, you bet I was!!’ 

[Match highlights ..... click here]

Two days after the excitement of that Spurs match on the 28th January, appropriately as if it was planned, it was time for my heart assessment at Wycombe hospital in preparation for the cardiac rehabilitation classes. This turned out to be a real turning point in my recovery journey just for the fact I was given my pedometer! This little gadget that sits in my pocket has ruled my life ever since, even becoming an obsession, I go no-where without it. I had no idea how many steps I took in an average day but in that first full day I achieved 3,354 steps which was about average for what I was doing at that time, now I had something to gauge myself against and try to build on and improve – this was just the very beginning of the long journey to a more active healthier lifestyle!

Things were starting to move at pace as this was quickly followed by a return to work on the 1^st February, my GP asked if I needed longer off but I just wanted to get back to some sort of normal resemblance of proper routines again so we agreed on a phased return. I started by going in at 10.00 a.m and finishing at 2.00 p.m., this way I could still have a slow start to the day and miss the traffic rush at both ends of the day as I got used to sitting behind the steering wheel again, then extending the day to a 4.00 p.m. finish and eventually back to full days on 21st March.

Tonight Matthew, I will be Radioactive man!

The rehabilitation classes were delayed until after I had revisited Harefield hospital first for my Nuclear Medicine Perfusion Scan and then an outpatient appointment the day after in mid-February. The scan was an all-day affair, arriving early to be injected with a radioactive tracer I had to go through two scans where you have to lie perfectly still uncomfortably with your arms above your head for half an hour while this machine makes sporadic and slow random movements across your chest, it can be quite disconcerting trying not to make move in a room all on your own with no idea how much longer you have to hold that pose while the machine that looks as if it's gone to sleep suddenly moves another couple inches.  The first scan is taken while the heart is under stress which was achieved by a treadmill stress test, you start slow and level and then increase in speed and gradient in increments through the test. I coped reasonably well reaching a good speed before surrendering and falling into a chair suffering with a touch of angina while trying to regain my composure. That night I had to flush the toilet twice (presumably to stop it dissolving) and be careful to stay away from babies, small children and pregnant women. I think the wife was a little disappointed that I didn't glow in the dark like the Ready Brek kid though!

[Nuclear Medicine stress test video ..... click here]

The return visit the following day for my 1 month angioplasty clinic provided excellent results from the previous day. My left ventricle ejection fraction had gone from 51% straight after the heart attack [see part 1] to 66%, which is considered normal (55%-70%) and gave me reassurance that the damage wasn't so bad. There were two further untreated restricted arteries which passed the stress test and were to be controlled by medication for my blood pressure and cholesterol but it was left to me to monitor the symptoms. I wasn't really happy with this as I still felt that further deterioration would be slow and hard to detect and it felt like a waiting game. But other than that and a slight tweak to my medication it was overall a positive visit. I had complained of muscle aches in my arms for as long as I have been on statins, so the Cardiologist moved me from Atorvastatin 10mg to Rosuvastatin 5mg and although still experiencing slight aches, it is now so much better.

As this was our first proper car journey outside of Wycombe, my wife had come along so we could go on somewhere after for a stroll. We took the short trip down to Uxbridge and had a wander around the town and a bite for lunch, by the end of the day I had achieved my first 5 figure step count of 11,018 and met the jumping man icon on my pedometer for the first time, this set the bench mark and I wanted to see more of the jumping man!

One of the advantages of having a whole month off is it disrupts your normal routine and gives you a great opportunity to change your not so good habits, be that eating or lifestyle. I’m a bit of a chocoholic, but being house bound for the best part of the month meant the habit of buying a bar when filling the car with petrol wasn’t there, also the daily muffin for tea break at work or that KitKat after my cheese rolls for lunch or the endless round of cakes and pastries for work colleges birthdays were gone. Returning to work provided the ideal chance to make changes for the better and so it was quite natural to give up these previous treats and swap them for fresh fruit, dried fruit & nuts and pasta salads without any real effort on my part. 

When my willpower got low I just had to remind myself that my driving motivation to make these changes is to prevent another heart episode, and then I'm quickly back on track.


Heart attack to 10K pictorial record - click here

Thank-you for reading and I would love to hear your thoughts on any subject I have covered, please leave your comments below or email me at peterjemmett@aol.com


Previous:
Part 1 - That fateful day. (Phase I - heart attack)  click here

Next:
Part 3 - They tried to make me go to rehab, I said yes, yes, yes please. (Phase III - cardiac rehabilitation)  click here
Part 4.1 - Getting FFITer and Harefield & Heartbreak hill revisited. (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.2 - Walking for heart & soul & finding parkrun (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.3 - End of year 1 round-up and assessment. (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.4 - Falling heart rate: fitter or hibernation? (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.5 - Pain in the bum, going senile and sub 30! (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.6 - Sub 29, attack of the AKI and 1 year old (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.7 - Pushing the boundaries (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.8 - Bling, bling, bling, two 10K's and a 5K. (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.9 - 3 Years On, Ragged Radnage and Pete's bolus journey (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.10 - Coping with COVID-19 and what they say (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.11 - Living in the lock-down (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here

Part 4.12 - Plus and minus 3.5 years; heart attack to half marathon! (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.13 - Is it worth the risk? (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here

Part 4.14 - Mixed bag through Covid (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.15 - Getting back in the groove (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here

Part 4.16 - Reintegrating back into society (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here

Part 4.17 - Get that crazy rhythm (the low down on AFib) (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.18 - The 5 year itch, time to cut the CRAP! (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style) click here
Part 4.19 - The last word (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style) click here
Part 4.20 - Persisting with parkrun (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style) click here
Part 4.21 - Stuck in reverse (recap of 2022) (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style) click here

Part 4.22 - Starting all over again 6 years on (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style) click here

Part 4.23 - God bless the NHS (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style) click here

Part 4.24 - What I can, when I can (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style) click here