Gremmie

Spent new year in hospital
Any way feeling pretty good under the circumstances , i just get tired easily.
So what happened so some of you may learn from my mistakes.
I woke at 0400am on Wednesday 29th with a slight pain in my chest, nothing more than that, no clutching my chest like on TV and stagering around the bedroom gasping for breath. So i got up went to the bathroom for a pee and a fart, a drink of water then back to bed ops: It was a tad uncomfortable but not painful, i thought i had just slept funny.
Got out of bed arround 08.30 am washed dressed had coffee and breakfast and started work at home as things were pretty quiet between Xmass and new year in the trucking game. Louise my wife asked in passing how i slept , to which i remarked that i wokre arround 4am with a mild pain in the chest, she automaticly hit the alarm bells ???? and wanted to call the Docs. Why ?? I felt ok plus i had some loads to get covered and organised. Well like a good wife she kept on buging me with nag nag nag, so i agreed at noon to got to the local hospital.
Once at the Hospital i was whisked into an exam room shirt off blood taken electrodes conected all over my now badly shaved chest... WTF is going on I feel OK... Within 45 mins i was strapped to a stretcher and flying up hwy 59 with sirens blaring on my way to St Boniface Hospital Winnipeg... WTF this is embaressing... I was unloaded at St B, pushed to the front in Emerge, put into a cubicle with 2 doctors & 3 nurses, again poked with needles and electrodes, bits more of my chest got a dry shave, asked question after question until i finaly said STOP, WTF is going on. The surprised young doc looked at me and said " you've had a massive heart attack, the left side of your heart is not working, did they not tell you this in the ambulance ??" ... "NO" I was then transfered to a pre OP room where they dry shaved my nads ops:
Within 45 mins of arriving at St B hospital i was on the OP table whatching on the screen the doc remove a blood clot from my heart, then place a balloon in the affected area followed by a 'Stent" looks like a spring in a ball point pen, 1hr 30mins latter all was done, i lay in my room being attended to by a a battery of really good nurses. We had left home arround noon, and it was now 6pm and i was on the ward recovering from a heart Op, not exactly what i had planned for the day :roll:
I am alive through pure luck, the left side went about 12 hours with out a proper blood flow, my life was saved by the fact that another artery is massive and was able to compensate for the blocked artey.
I waited 9 hours, thats 9 hours to long, i missed the signs of this, I now have a damaged heart for the rest of my days, its going to take months of resting, therapy and training to get back some of what i have now lost. Dont make the same stupid mistakes i did, it takes but minutes to educate your selves.

Big Truck

Bloody hell Gremmie,

You must have been a cat in a previous life,thats two lives gone!!!!!!!!
Get well soon.

Gremmie

As usual BT your figures are wrong, ive now died 3 times
1 in switzerland crushed between 2 trucks
2 left for dead on the hwy near Atlanta GA
3 heart attack at home in bed

I must try to find some where more exotic for the next one

kb33

Seriously though a lesson to us all , Graham is 3 days older than me

farjojo71

OMG Graham, that was such a close call......thank god you have a good nagging wife!!! Take it easy and I hope you get better soon. x

Gremmie

But looks 10 years younger

kb33

At least I don't look like an " old David Essex "

Gremmie

Are you on drugs kev, I look nothing like him..

kb33

He just as less hair !

DAVIE_MAC

Hey Graham,

Get well soon mate take it slow and dont rush things.

Cheers mucker

Dave

cargomatic

Hope you fully recover soon mate, take it easy

garvs11

Having had serious heart problems in my family ( Father and Grandfather died at 58/59 respectfully of a heart attacks) i know how extremely lucky you are,here is a warning to us all, Look around at most truck drivers especially in Canada and North America and watch how much food they consume and the how severley overweight these people are.This is of epidemic proportions now and without education will only get worse.As my situation put the fear of god up me i decided to give myself a fighting chance to actually make 60, give up smoking and try and eat more healthy and do the very most important thing that all of us truck drivers do least EXERCISE.I now run upto 15 miles a few times a week Now dont tell me you dont have time to do even 30 mins to exercise because you have, you can make time i did and how much i have benefitted from actually making an effort.
Hope your on the road to recovery Gremmie, all the best

Gremmie

Glad to hear you got wise, hopefully before any damage was done. I gave up smoking 3 years ago, but took up eating instead, not junk food just way to much even of the healthy stuff Exercise was at zero miles or minutes
Now I'm eating half portions and am allowed to walk really slowly for 15 mins, and then gradualy increase as the weeks go by.
All of this was preventable, shame i didnt bother to do anything about it sooner.

spockil

i think gremmie has sent shock waves through the trucking industry as it could happen to anyone any time.
hope you get better soon.

alandoug

Not dropped in for a while...
Great response by Canadian health service. All the best Graham for your recovery.