HEART ATTACK 💘 A NEW CHALLENGE
I was planning to launch this web site 22nd May 2023. On May 7th I had a heart attack, May 18th I had coronary triple by pass surgery
I was so used to people admiring my physical and mental condition in my years approaching 80 that I had taken my eye off the ball. At 75 I closed my gym because I had the opportunity to get back into my life obsession – the UK machine tool industry
At 75 I really was fit – strong, flexible, great balance and enjoying being a fitness professional helping others.
In the days following the heart attack I spent many hours thinking “how can I have had a heart attack”?
It was not difficult to rationalize. I had jumped back too strongly onto the business treadmill – too much sitting (2500 miles driving a month, too many hours on the computer), too little exercise, too much snacking, and arriving home after a long drive downing a whisky and munching a couple of packets of crisps before dinner, usually accompanied by a glass of wine.
Not wildly over the top but way off the lifestyle that had taken me so successfully to 75. I have been playing 18 holes golf Saturday and Sunday mornings and did not take proper notice of the recent warning that I was struggling to walk the last three or four holes
So in June I was recovering strongly from the surgery and getting my lifestyle back under control when BANG out of the blue I was hit by an infection. This was a chronic infection that was preventing the saw cut down the length of my sternum from healing. Having your chest in two halves is quite strange and coughing and sneezing can be very painful. June 30th back into hospital for two operations by a new consultant who took control of the fight against this chronic infection. It has been a long job in hospital but I felt fine even though I was permanently connected to a portable vacuum pump until September 14th when the consultant was satisfied the infection had gone and he was able wire my sternum back together and repair the chest flesh.
My belief that you can maintain or rebuild fitness, strength, flexibility, balance at any age is strengthened by what happened to me in hospital on July 30th . Fighting the infection with intravenous antibiotics required four drip applications every day/night. I normally stayed awake during the evening and was ready for the midnight application. One evening I fell asleep and was woken at midnight. I felt strange. The next thing I remember was being in the Intensive Treatment Unit. I was told I had gone into Cardiac Arrest and was resuscitated with CPR by a nurse. This brilliant young lady came to see me in ITU the next morning. She told me my heart stopped three times but now she could not believe that just a few hours later I was looking so well. “You must be very fit” she said. That infection had nearly finished me, but now I am pretty well back to normal and looking after myself better. The only thing banned is heavy weight lifting!
Although I have to a degree abused my body during the past five years I still have the benefit of the fitness base I developed all my life. That has been a major influence in my recovery from four operations and a cardiac arrest
Going back to work, driving, hitting golf balls, building my memory bank and developing this web site keeps me very occupied. I think that being busy is important as you get older – maintain posture, balance, energy and keep the mind active – and enjoy memories!