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Peter's StoryHi to All, It is difficult to know where to start my story, so in true tradition I will start at the beginning,Here goes. My problems began on the 25th of April 1992, I was out shopping with my wife in Litchfield, we were buying new items for our expected baby, Jane was eight months pregnant at that time and life seemed so good for us both. I had just put the newly purchased cot in the car when all of a sudden I had the most strange feeling sweep over me, I began to feel very uncomfortable and instinctively knew that there was something seriously wrong with me, at that I began to sweat and shake all over, I do not recall any pain as such but my auto pilot took over and I said to my wife that we should really head for home, getting into the car we made our way home to Hednesford some 10miles away, I do not remember anything about the journey or our arrival home, but was latter told by my wife that I drove like something possessed and eventually passed out once we got home. I recall wakening up some two days latter in a bit of a daze, not sure of where I was or what had happened, it turns out that I had been admitted to Stafford District General Hospital, and had indeed had a heart attack, I felt stunned and shocked by what the doctors had told me, after all I was only 41 yrs old, I was under observation for approx ten days, and made steady progress, my strength gradually returning I was discharged from hospital, it took a further six weeks before I was cleared and declared fit to drive again, to be honest life was never the same after that episode, to make matters worse I was made redundant from my job as Transport Manager for allied bakeries, over the years my health deteriorated in ever increasing steps, the medication I had been taking for my angina attacks slowly began to be less effective, I was taking more of my GTN spray than I care to admit to, walking the dog was now getting to be an impossible task, even climbing the stairs was becoming a nightmare. In the end I was sent to hospital in December 2005 for an angiogram, to try and find out where my problem lay, I arrived at the hospital scared, nervous and basically terrified as to what lay ahead of me, I need not have been so scared the staff were very comforting and did all they could to put me at ease, my time came for the procedure and I was wheeled into the theatre, it seemed very cold in there compared to the ward but was told that it was normal for that theatre, I was fascinated by the amount of equipment that was in there, and I was able to see the monitor as the surgeon carefully manoeuvred the probe around my body, I could see the dye being released into my veins and arteries and felt the slightest warm sensation as it was released, the x ray machine whirred away taking photos of my clogged arteries and after about an hour it was all over and I was returned to the recovery ward, the doctor came to see me some time later to discuss the results of the tests, not good news he said in a quiet voice, you have significant scaring to your heart as a result of your previous heart attack in 1992, and there are severe restrictions in your coronary arteries, the only treatment that would be of any benefit to me is to have a heart bypass operation, I was put on the waiting list and told that it should be no more than a three month wait. As it turned out I did not have to wait that long, on Sunday the 8th of Jan 2006 I was out washing the cars, I did mine ok but was a little breathless as I dried the car with a leather, I used my GTN spray as usual but the pain would not go away, I tried to ignore it as I washed the wife's car but eventually the pain was to much to bear and I gave up, I made my excuses to the wife and passed of the incident, later that evening I began to feel unwell again and I tried to pass it off but my wife was now wise to my excuses, she made me call the NHS Direct Help Line and as I explained the symptoms I was aware that things were getting worse, the nurse on the other end of the phone told me to pass the phone to my wife and go and sit down, the next thing I know is that the Paramedics had been called and were ringing the door bell, the wife let him in and once inside he began to assess my condition, within minutes an ambulance arrived and the crew alongside the paramedic stabilised me, the journey to hospital was uneventful, once there I was taken into resuss and was connected to a monitor, the doctor made notes and asked me all sorts of questions, it was soon clear to me that I would not be going home that evening, my wife joined me while we waited for them to admit me to the ACU ward. The next day I was seen by my specialist who told me that I would have to stay in hospital until my Heart Bypass operation could be arranged, I was in ACU for a whole week getting more bored with every passing day, I felt a bit of a fraud because while I was in there I had had no real angina pains, probably because I was forced to rest, then on the Sunday morning the specialist came to see me, he said he had good news and that my operation was arranged for Wednesday the next week, I was going to be transferred to New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton on Monday in preparation for the operation at the new Heart and Lung Centre, I was full of mixed emotions and found that the weekend passed by quickly even though I had problems sleeping, Monday came and I was transferred to New Cross, what a shock, this unit was state of the art with all modern new facilities, I was soon settled into a 4 bed unit with some other patients and after a short while I began to explore my surroundings. Tuesday came and I was visited by the surgeon who would be doing the operation, he explained the procedure and told me of the benefits and also the risks involved with any operation, I signed the consent forms and my pop was scheduled for Wednesday, My wife came to see me on Wednesday morning and she helped me prepare for my impending operation, soon it was time for my pre med and if got into bed, try as I might I could not relax the more I tried the worse I got, next thing I know is that the theatre staff have come to the ward for me, still lying in my bed I am wheeled down to the theatre white room my wife came as far as she was allowed and we kissed goodbye, for all I knew probably for the last time, I was absolutely terrified as to what I was going to be put through and if I had the energy I think I would have got off the bed and run, before I could make any decision I was put onto the operating table, from that point on I remember nothing, I recall opening my eyes and was aware that I was in a room with monitors all around, there was a male nurse at the foot of my bed and he was constantly watching the monitor that I was connected to, I instantly knew that I had had the by pass operation, the pain was not that great but I could feel some discomfort in my chest, I drifted in an out of sleep for some hours and eventually regained full consciousness, I was still connected to a monitor and there were drain tubes coming out of my lower chest, tubes were coming out of the arteries in my neck, I was connected to a catheter to drain my bladder and I had dressings on my chest, left forearm and my left lower leg, I don't really know what I expected but at least I was still alive, soon I was transferred to the step down ward and now began the process of recovery, the next day after my operation I was surprised to see that I had to get up and start walking, just around my bed to start with and over the next few days I was encouraged to go further and further around the wards, during this time the tubes that were used in the operation were removed until I was completely free, my dressings were removed and the wounds left to heal, 4 days after my operation I was declared fit enough to go home. I have been home 4 weeks now and I continue to improve day by day, I still have a bit of pain in my chest where my rib cage was opened but I can cope with that, I have some pain in my wounds where they harvested the veins for my bypass but there is no infection and continue to heal nicely, its early days yet but i am optomistic as to my future, my wife and family have been golden and i sometimes feel guilty that they have had to endure the trauma just as much as i have. If you are waiting for a bypass then take my advice and be positive, there is no bigger coward than me when it comes to Hospitals and operations but the alternative could be far worse, i now have a new lease of life and intend to live it to the max. Best regards to all readers Peter Bailey. You are here: Home >> Your Stories >> Peter's Story |
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