Welcome to my Heart Blog.

One Persons's journey to a Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) and hopefully beyond.

I Began this diary while I was sitting in hospital recovering from a quadruple coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). The aim was to track my progress and think a bit more about the National Health Service acute services, what we should appreciate about it and where we might do better.

I stopped writing when there was, frankly, not much else to record. However in June I signed up for a half marathon and thought I would re-open the blog as a training diary. It may even include a few health and exercise tips along the way.

I am neither a health-care professional nor a sports and fitness guru. What I write is no more expert than some of the things you might here from that bloke in the pub, so I take no responsibility for how you might use my ramblings. Be warned!

If you want to you can read the "back story", from hospital to rehab in earlier blog posts. One thing I have learned is that most people are not interested in reading my ramblings so, for those who do, I promise in future to keep them short.

Monday, 29 June 2015

Monday 15th June. A visit to the GP


I call the GP's surgery for an appointment.  Usual problem; you have to call after 0830 am but so does everyone else, so I spend 10 minutes getting engaged signals and pressing the “redial” button until I get through.  I am offered an appointment with the nurse and I explain that I ought to see the doctor as I need some prescriptions filled.  The receptionist offers me an appointment in two weeks time. I have to explain that I also have chest pains and the receptionist says that the surgery recommends that if I have chest pain I should go to A&E.  Though this conversation is enough to give me one, I am not suffering a pain at the time so she asks me to turn up at 1100 hrs and wait.  While I could go to A&E hanging around for hours does not appeal to me and anyway I had a number of things I wanted to talk to my GP about.

On the way to the GP surgery I walk fast for two minutes and the chest pain comes on quickly.  I have to pull up, stop, take some deep breaths and wait for the dizziness to go.  The pain also subsides, at least enough for me to continue, but only very slowly.  Any attempt to speed up immediately brings it back. 

The GP listens to my story, but does not really hear me out.  I think she is pressed for time. She decides to do some blood tests but her view is that I have exercise-induced asthma.  I have had mild asthma for about 20 years but it has been controlled with daily inhalers (beclametazone) and I very rarely use the salbutamol inhaler; perhaps twice in the last two years during cold weather and never for exercise.  She says I should use the inhaler when exercising if I feel tightness in my chest.  I am a little surprised but accept the advice and take away the blood test form.  The GP does not test bloods an I have to go to the local hospital in the morning, fasting.  Fasting apart, I do think that a lot of time might be saved if these tests were one in the GP surgery, which is what happened when I visited the doctor in Switzerland some time ago. 

I go home and did little for the rest of the day, though Helen was fit enough to go the the London Hash.  I was clearly not.

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