Seven words

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.