The seven words I heard from my doctor earlier
this year hit me like a brick.
“You have a problem with your heart.”
I’ve never been the model of health. My shape
is round. I’ve had arthroscopic surgery on both knees. I have COPD and limited
lung capacity from a few years of smoking but mostly from growing up just down
the road from a factory that spewed smoke and dust into the air non-stop. In
spite of all this I never expected my heart would give out.
I was always good at lifting and carrying
things, and now my cardiologist tells me not to lift anything heavy. And no
shoveling snow this winter.
I was born with a heart defect 59 years ago,
according to my doctor. Aortic stenosis is now detectable at birth but when I
was born the technology did not exist. It’s a condition that means that one of
the valves in my heart has two leaflets to regulate the blood flow instead of
the usual three. As you grow older plaque builds up on the leaflets and blood
flow is restricted.
There is nothing I can take for this, aside
from blood thinners to marginally help the blood flow. The only fix is a
replacement of the valve with a mechanical version or one taken from a pig or
cow. And now I know a rough date for the procedure (which will also include a bypass
to fix a troublesome aneurism) – by the end of the year.
What I can do is try and help myself make
things a little easier for the surgical crew. I’ve tried to watch what I eat
and I’m now signed up for the Cardiac Rehab program at the Reh-Fit Centre. In
the last few weeks I’ve gone there most days to walk the track, ride the
stationary bike and try out a few machines that will not adversely affect my
ticker, all under the watchful eyes of the wonderful Reh-Fit staff.
It’s taught me a valuable lesson. See your
doctor regularly. This whole thing started when my doctor noticed my heartbeat
was ‘a bit off’ when giving me an ECG for my annual checkup. It’s meant the
difference between being having heart surgery and needing emergency heart surgery.
I have been something of an emotional wreck
over all this. In the past, some days I just wanted it over and what happens,
happens. But now that I have a date I have decided I am not going down without
a fight. There are too many things to live for: I want to see my loving wife
retire and us move with the cats into a condo where we can enjoy our free time
together. I want to travel some more and spend more time with my friends and
family, especially those who I’ve alienated while feeling self-pity these last
few months.
And most importantly, I want to grow old.
It’s been a tough lesson, but now I know that I want my life back, a better
life both physically and emotionally. And I’m going to do what I can to make
sure that happens.
