A Slight Glitch

I went to Camphill as usual on Tuesday. Teo, the drama leader (if that's his title, I'm not sure.) so Paul was in charge. We started off in a circle of chairs to do check-in which is done at the beginning of each session. A good way to find out any problems with the residents. There weren't. A couple of new faces from the support staff who I haven't met before. Then we did a line rehearsal, making sure that the actors put in as much effort as possible and standing up to deliver their lines. Then we split up into two groups to do work on various sections of the play. Some of the residents were away, mostly on holiday, so some of us support staff read in for them. Then we showed each other what we'd achieved during these sessions. Extracting as much comedy out of the piece as possible and some of the residents concerned that when Teo comes back next week he won't appreciate what we've done.

Then, in the final ten minutes before the lunch break at 12 o'clock we were doing more wolf and piggy movements, getting as much as possible out of this.

Then we broke for lunch. I have been taking a pack-up for lunch for the past few weeks. I have used the café on a couple of occasions, and, although it is very good, it's vegetarian. I don't have a problem with that, but I find their menu a bit limited. Not a very wide selection of food that I would want. I really don't want a full-scale meal, just a roll or sandwich. I did have a toasty on a couple of occasions but as I say, the menu is a bit limited, which is the reason I take a pack-up, usually a sandwich, which I make the evening before, an apple, banana or other piece of fruit, yoghurt, a packet of crisps and sometimes an oaty, churchy, biscuity thingy. I forget the name, crazy I know, but when the name of these items comes back to my memory, then I'll put it on here.

As I sat and ate, I suddenly got a really bad pain in my chest. I didn't immediately think much about it and went on eating and drinking. A cold fruit drink in one of those cardboard cartons with a straw stuck to the side which you have to carefully peel off and then stick in the hole in the top and which then means, if you're not careful, the juice squirts out. This discomfort didn't go away. Then I began to think 'is this an angina attack?' which means I use my G.T.N. spray (glyceryl trinitrate) which I always carry around in one of my pockets, either in my Regatta jacket or my trousers pocket, for such an eventuality as this. Three sprays under my tongue and then wait with your mouth closed for around five minutes, usually sitting down until the spray takes effect. On this occasion it didn't. The pain didn't go away. I had moved from the foyer area into the hall, the main body of the Chrysalis Theatre. I sat on a chair. It was at this point I began to panic slightly. I'll be perfectly honest and say that it's incredibly difficult to differentiate between an angina attack, a bout of heart-burn or 'reflux' and an actual heart attack. I can't explain the differences, but they are definitely similar. With an angina attack you know if you exert yourself a quick burst of G.T.N. spray it is going to go off after around five minutes; with heart burn it generally goes off after a while, the discomfort usually goes if you use a medication such as Zantac or even peppermint capsule. With a heart attack you get a pain which centres in your chest and spreads out to your arms and probably your legs, you sweat and your heart rate increases. I had neither the angina sensation or the angina sensation, because I had used the G.T.N. spray and it hadn't worked. Also, with the G.T.N. spray you get a sort of head rush (not unpleasant) and it's no use using it again as it's use won't have such a profound effect. When the discomfort hadn't subsided I asked someone to call an ambulance as I was in by now a bit of a panic.

The ambulance arrived within about 15 minutes. I wasn't timing it, but it soon arrived. The paramedics ran through the whole situation, from the moment the discomfort in my chest began through to how painful it was, as they always do, on a scale from 1 to 10. It started at about 8 and by the time they took me off in the ambulance it was around 4. They went through my medications and did a finger-prick blood test. Much as Carol would have done when she had to test her blood sugar because she was diabetic. I don't like it, but it was over quickly. I suppose it shows basic things in a test that can then be relayed to the awaiting doctors at A and E. By the time I got to A and E it had virtually disappeared, which reassured me that it wasn't actually heart-related, but they still took me to check me out. They did an E.C.G. as I sat in the theatre and gave me an aspirin tablet to start sucking and then to swallow. It didn't taste as unpleasant as they can sometimes taste, a sort of mint flavour. Certainly not the horrible taste of G.T.N. spray. I had to take my lunch box with me in the ambulance, all packed up and leave my car in the carpark at Camphill. I was concerned about loosing the car keys which were actually safely zipped into one of the pockets in my Regatta jacket.

I was surprised how quickly we got to Milton Keynes hospital. When you're in the back of the ambulance you can't see out, see exactly where you're going, which was the case after my second heart attack in September last year. You're obviously aware that you're moving, but you can't see any scenery as you are speeding along the road. At the A and E entrance I was transferred onto a wheelchair and taken ito the unit and the paramedics handed over the information about my incident. One of them had been writing up  notes on a sort of touch screen tablet computer, so I imagine that links into the computer system at the hospital and no doubt they could see my notes from past hospital visits rather than use a paper system, because I was soon issued with the obligatory wrist label with my name on it along with a bar code which the nurses use to identify me before doing any observations which include temperature, blood pressure and so on. The paramedics asked me if I was allergic to anything (which I'm not, fortunately.) and a list of the medications which I'm on, which I'm able to reel off without any problems. Also, I mentioned the stunts I had fitted in the John Radcliffe in Oxford and other details of my two heart attacks.

Once my information was handed over to the A and E staff I was put in one of the cubicles and lay on one of the trolleys, making sure my belongings, my jacket and lunchbox, were somewhere near by. I had my mobile phone and was able at a later time to text Garry, my neighbour, and ask if he could go into my house and feed and water Alfie and make sure he could get out. I later got a text back from Shelley to say she would do this as Garry was at work. So, at least I knew that Alfie would be fine. Garry and Shelley have a key which they've had for quite a while just in case of an incident that I'm now describing.

More 'obs' done. I was left for a while in the cubicle. A lot of staff scurrying about. Not particularly busy. I would imagine it would be busier in the evenings and more than likely at the weekend. A nurse comes in and says she's come to take blood. Not what I like to hear, particularly as I have an aversion to needles (if you've read any of my previous blog posts you will know why.) She manages to find a vein in my right arm. I keep my eyes tightly shut and the slight sting as the needle goes in is slight, but at least she has taken sufficient blood for it to be tested. It's supposed to show up if you have had a heart attack by a substance which is in your blood called triplin. Then I was carted off on the trolley and parked around the corner near the X ray department. I wasn't sure whether it was just to move me out of the way because they wanted my cubicle or whether I was going to have an X Ray. Someone was wheeled out and I assumed I was in the queue and then I was wheeled in and had to sit up, with this board put behind my back and an X ray was done. Over and done and wheeled out. Back to the cubicle and before I knew it, a doctor was closing the curtain around me (not that it would have made a lot of difference because you can still hear conversations with other parents, but I suppose it's to give a certain amount of privacy. I was informed that nothing showed up  in either the blood test or the X ray that suggested I'd had had a heart attack or anything heart-related. He asked me about my previous heart attacks and the sequence of events that had led up to the incident at Camphill, what medications I was on and so on. Fortunately I can remember fairly accurately what meds I am on and the list is on my iPhone. After that I was allowed to walk to a waiting area. Nowhere to lay down, just a couple of chairs that would allow you to lay down, but not particularly comfortable. I suppose if they had discovered something more serious, then I would have been able to remain on the trolley in the cubicle, but because it wasn't serious, I was expected to sit in the waiting area. I then was told that, because of my history of heart attacks, they would need to keep me in the unit for a further 6 hours and then do another blood test, just to make sure that there was nothing more serious going on.

I had my iPhone with me. I fortunately had the Netflix app installed and I was able to watch an episode of Upstart Crow, the sitcom based loosely (and I mean loosely) on the life of William Shakespeare, and that followed by what must have been the first episode of 'Porridge,' which I have seen several times before, but which stands the test of time brilliantly. Unfortunately I didn't manage to see to the end because the battery of the iPhone died and this meant I was left stranded with nothing to read and absolutely nothing to watch. A mother and daughter came in and sat opposite, paying a game on a tablet or mobile phone, and I attempted without success to snooze, but the chair I was sitting in, although it tipped back so I could lie down, was very uncomfortable and not really designed to allow me to sleep or snooze. Boredom crept in by now. By 7p.m. I would be able to give a further blood test, by time ticked by. I think it was time for the shift hand-over. I could see staff coming and going. There was a door which kept banging shut every time someone entered or left the A and E unit. If I needed the toilet I had to go through this door and the only way back in was to press the button to release the door (going out) and wait until and member of staff went through, using a swipe card to release the door. I asked a nurse when I was likely to have the blood test, being told it was necessary, six hours after the first (it certainly seemed longer.) Then a nurse came in to do take blood but couldn't find a vein in my arm. I have narrow arteries. This has always been a problem. She made an attempt at taking blood, but had to give up and got another nurse to attempt and after a while she managed to get a vein and took the necessary amount to be sent for testing. At last! I could see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. The final hour ticked by, and at around 7.45 a doctor came in and asked me to join him in a near-by office. He told me the results hadn't shown any signs of anything in the least heart-related and the pain I had experienced was most likely caused by heart-burn or acid reflux. A relief and it was really as I expected, but they had to follow the correct procedure in case it had been a heart related pain. Which meant I could leave, although I had to walk the relatively short distance home along the Redway, which takes about 10-15 minutes.

I went to Shelley and Garry's house to tell them the good news and Shelley said she had been next door to let Alfie out and took him for a walk, which I expect he would have loved. I cooked a plate of chips because I wasn't in a fit state to cook anything else at that precise moment. Oven chips and Heinz tomato ketchup was just the thing I needed after my several hours in the Accident and Emergency department. I was annoyed in some ways, because I was never offered anything to drink or eat, even a cup of tea would have been nice. I didn't have any money on me, so I couldn't have bought even a Mars bar out of the vending machine in the main waiting area of the A and E department. When I was taken to the John Radcliffe back in September after my second heart attack I was at least given a sandwich and a cup of tea. I appreciate that the staff are busy, but it would have been nice to have been at least asked. Just glad it all had a positive end. I think Alfie was more than pleased to see me when I walked in the front door of the house.

The following morning I rang for a taxi and drove to Camphill to collect the car, being surprised that it cost £6 for the privilege. 

Another Hospital Appointment

Carol had a hospital appointment this morning. A bit of a surprise that it was a Sunday, but if it meant  not having to wait it was worthwhile. We could have walked as Milton Keynes Hospital is right behind our house, but I thought she wouldn't fancy walking home after the scan she we went in the car. It was for a scan to get to what is causing her problems. We got to the hospital well before the time stated in the letter she got. A good 45 minutes. We parked in the multi-storey carpark within the hospital campus and then walked in through the main entrance. Then the long walk to the C.T. department. That l-o--n-g corridor is becoming very familiar to me. We eventually found the C.T. scan department and she went through the reception desk to check in. She had to go without eating for several hours before hand and had to drink water because of the scan. Not many other people waiting and those that were in the waiting area soon got called and went in and came out fairly rapidly. Then she got called in. I didn't think I would be allowed near the scan room so I stayed in the main waiting area but I soon went through with Carol to the scan area. X rays as well as C.T. scans done in the same area. There were to be two scans. The second one would be done after Carol had some sort of die injected into her arm. She had to wait around 15 minutes for the dye to circulate in her blood supply and the second scan done. I think it was so they could compare the two scans. After the first scan was done she appeared with a canula in her arm which would be used to inject the dye. So, after the second scan was done she came out and the canula removed from her arm and we were able to leave. Back to the entrance and into the small shop to buy milk and something for lunch and the back to the car. There was a ticket machine in the entrance hall but we couldn't get it to work. You put your parking ticket in them machine and it should show how much you owe and you can either pay with cash or use your debit or credit card to pay. The machine would not work so we walked the short distance to the multi-storey carpark and fortunately got the ticket machine there to work allowing us to leave the carpark. Another peculiar arrangement in the carpark which confused us as to where you could leave. Driving round in circles before it became obvious where you exited.

Anyway, the appointment was over and we could go home. She has another appointment during the week ahead. The results from today's scan should be available in around two weeks time.

Going To Accident and Emergency

I think I have already mentioned that Carol had a really nasty fall when she slipped over when we visited Waddesdon Manor on New Year's Day. She has been complaining about pain in her hand, and I had got Voltarol to use on it to try to relieve this pain. She has been using this for over a week, and although it has helped to a certain extent, it has not completely relieved the pain. Infact, she told me it might have got worse. This is in her left hand. This morning she said she was finding it really difficult to do simple things when she was dressing, even pulling up zips. I really thought that there was a good reason to go to the doctor with this problem or go to the Accident and Emergency department at the hospital, so at around 7.30 she rang the Academy and said she wouldn't be in until she'd been to be checked over for the injury. You have to ring in by 7.30 for cover to be set if you are ill.

There was really no point driving to Milton Keynes Hospital, because we live so close (it's just over the Redway to the back of our house.) and you have to pay to park, so it was going to be easier and a good deal less stressful to just walk there. It seems really awful to think you have to pay to park your car in a hospital car park, but that's a matter to discuss elsewhere.

So we set off and walked the half-mile or so, coming into the Accident and Emergency department the wrong way round. It really surprised me that we were never challenged by staff, as you do hear of some quite appalling incidents regarding security in hospitals. We went to the reception desk where they take basic details of your injury, name, address and so on, and we then had to sit and wait in the waiting area.  From experience myself, having gone through Accident and Emergeny regarding heart problems, they prioritize patients so that if you have a more life-threatening condition, you get seen before someone with a lesser condition.need/injury. Coronary conditions, particularly the possibility of heart attack, is obviously going to be further up the list, indeed, more likely at the top of the list, compared with someone who has a cut, bruise  or abrasion or minor problem.

By now it was around 8 a.m. There was a hand-written sign up saying that there was a waiting time of approximately 6 HOURS, but as this was for the previous day it was difficult to judge how quickly we would be seen. I do think the information should have been more up to date. It wouldn't have taken that long for a member of staff to clear this old information and put up the current approximate waiting time. There were quite a few other people waiting in the waiting area.

After about 15-20 minutes Carol's name was called and we were taken into the Triage Department, where a male nurse took far more detailed information regarding the injury to Carol's hand. About an hour later Carol was called again and was seen by a Care Practitioner who did a further examination and it was then decided that Carol's hand would require X-raying. This was done in the Accident and Emergency X Ray department which was a little further into the department. After this was done we returned to the waiting area (having been through this department myself, it is all extremely familiar.) and we were joined by Carol's friend Judy who works in the hospital, but I'm not entirely in what capacity, but she always shows up like a guardian angel at just the right time to give support. A truly lovely lady. 

The we returned to the Care Practioner lady's office to look at the by-then developed X rays of Carol's hand and it was decided that she would need some therapy on the hand from the Hand Therapy Unit. I was never aware that there was such a department in the hospital. She could go there immediately or an appointment could be made for a later date, but it seemed sensible to get something set up as soon as possible, so we walked there around the outside of the hospital. 

The room was set up with quite a few tables, with people sitting at them and OT staff (Occupational Therapy) staff working on exercises on patients' hands that had been injured in whatever fashion, similar to Carl. It was decided that Carol would have to wear a splint on her hand until it heals, and this was produced, and is kept in place with strips of Velcro. She has to come back in about a week to have it checked and to see how her hand is healing. 

It was gone 12 midday when we eventually left the hospital. So, we had been there around 4 hours, which wasn't as long as it might have taken, and at least there was an outcome, with Carol having her hand injury seen and given something to relieve the injury. 

We walked home and Carol went into work back at the Academy.

My Heart Attack

I'm new at this. Well, there's a first time for everything, I suppose. At one time the very thought of a computer would bring me out in goose-bumps. But here I am, using the internet, writing letters on my Mac, sending emails and now writing a blog! Whatever next?

Why am I at home, in the middle of the day, you may be asking, which allows me time to write this? A fairly simple answer (if anything is simple!). I had a heart-attack on the night of 17th/18th of May 2006 . Not something I was expecting, but it happened. If I hadn't rung the '999' emergency number for an ambulance, I might not be here now.

I worked as a carer for a young man who had cerebal Palsy. I 'lived-in' with him, and did two-weeks at a time. The pain started on the Saturday at the middle of my two-week period. I felt quite awful, but really thought that it was no more than a chest infection as I had had a bout of bronchitis the previous week and imagined that this pain was associated with that. I had to walk to the local shop to get milk and also got mint tea as I thought that the pain might be a sort of heart-burn or indigestion and this would help to relieve it. I knew that it would be really difficult to leave to go home as I have to remain with David as he can't look after himself (the whole point of being a live-in carer, of course.) If I'd rung the agency whom I work for, I very much doubt that they would have been able to send a replacement at short notice. So, unless things improved, I would just have to remain with him and wait until I went home to deal with things. I went to a chemist and got some linctus, thinking that this would relieve things. Of course, it didn't. On the day I was due to leave and to hand over to the next carer I rang my doctor and made an appointment for later that afternoon. I went to the doctor and I was given antibiotics, as the doctor wasn't sure what the pain was. When, by the end of a week, the pain hadn't gone away, and I taken all the tablets, I returned to the doctor's surgery. I saw a different doctor this time, and when she said the word 'angina' then things started to make sense and I got slightly scared (to say the least.) She told me to ring '999' if the pain kept on, and gave me a prescription for a red spray which I had to spray under my tongue if the pain didn't stop.I really thought, when the 'thing' first happened, that it was a chest infection. I'm not the sort of person who makes a fuss about things. I usually just 'get on' with things, which is basically because I'm a carer. I'm used to looking after OTHER people, and I suppose I haven't looked after myself, hence the surprise when I was in need of care and attention.

The following two days I got some chest pain, so I used the spray. It happened several more times. By the Wednesday evening it didn't go away. At around 7.30 I decided to settle down to watch some television, and the pain started, but this time it didn't go away. I used the spray, but it didn't seem to help. I thought to myself, 'I may need to ring 999 for an ambulance.' But I decided that I wouldn't need one, and continued using the spray. I thought to myself 'I don't want to bother anyone at this time of night! If I need an ambulance, I can ring after 9 in the morning!' I even prepared a holdall with clothes that I would need for a hospital stay. That's the sort of person I am, as a carer, I have to be organised to look after someone else. As the night progressed, the pain didn't go away, in fact it got worse. By 6 in the morning I had to ring 999 as the pain was really bad. Within 20 minutes the paramedics arrived at my flat. I was getting stressed and was hyperventilating, so they had to calm me down and used oxygen which was given to me through a mask over my face. They eventually walked me down to the ambulance which was drawn up to the front entrance of the block of flats. Well, I thought, if I can walk, I can't be too bad. As we left the flat, one of the paramedics told me to bring some cash with me as I'd need to pay for a taxi to bring me home, so I imagined that I'd be at the hospital for an hour or so and then come home by taxi. How wrong could I be! My hospital stay lasted a week.

We got the the hospital and I went into the Accident and Emergency department. I was told to lay on a trolley in a curtained-off area. A tablet was put in my mouth and I was told not to swallow it but to hold it under my tongue. An X Ray was taken of my chest. Doctors and nurses came and went and a canula was put in the back of my hand. I was left alone for what seemed like ages. Nurses came and went, but they wouldn't tell me anything. I really wanted to know what was causing the pain. No answer was forthcoming. After what seemed quite some time I was informed by one of the nurses that I was going to be moved to the Acute ward. I wasn't sure what that meant. Why couldn't I just go home? Why couldn't someone just tell me what was causing the pain?? I was kept on the trolley and pushed rather unceremoniously out of the Accident and Emergency department and through the corridors of the hospital until we arrived at the Acute ward. I seem to remember that a doctor did come and speak to me, and the words 'heart attack' were actually mentioned. I didn't stay on the Acute ward for long as I was evenutally moved to the Coronary Care Unit which is several floors up from the Acute ward, and by this time I realised that if I was in the Coronary Care Unit things certainly weren't too good for me! All during this the pain in my chest was continuing.

I had to give one of the nurses my daughter Chloe's phone number, as none of my family knew what had happened to me and where I was. She turned up later in the evening to visit me, which was a real surprise, as she was in Worcester, where she is at university. Also, someone I know through my church, Steve LePage, was also telephoned, and he and his wife visited me during my stay in hospital.

I haven't spent a great deal of time in hospital. I had my appendix out when I was 12, but I haven't spent any length of time in hospital more recently. I had never realised what a noisy place a ward could be. At night there is always the sound of something or other. I was connected to a monitor, for heart-rate, pulse etc. Other people on the ward were also on these things, as well as drips etc. I had several of these, connected to me via a canular in the arm. When the drug or whatever that they administer runs out the machine automatically sounds an alarm, and these keep going off all night, and the duty nurse will come and replace the drug. Also, as part of the on-going observation ('obs') you have an E.C.G. attached to your chest by way of electrodes and this measures your heartrate etc. I am also somewhat impressed by all this modern technology, as well as the blood-pressure monitoring system which in some cases can automatically take your blood pressure, for example, at night. The thing automatically inflates and takes your blood pressure. One poor man had one which took his blood pressure every hour on the hour all night. I doubt very much whether he actually got a good night's sleep.

It took three days for the doctors and nurses to get the pain under control and at one time I was on morphene and warfarin, which is also used as a rat-poison! It is used becuse it helps to prevent blood clots, but as a result of this I was advised not to shave for several days, because if I cut myself it would be difficult to stop the bleeding. I don't like going without shaving, so as soon as I was able, and after I was taken off the Warfarin, I shaved again. There was a time when one of the canulas was taken out of my arm, but the nurse who did it forgot I was on Warfarin and there was quite a flow of blood when the canula was taken out. Not nice.

As I write this I've been for an angiogram at Bedford Hospital and have also had a Stress Test and two M.I.B.I. scans at Papworth Hospital. I expect that I will get an appointment within the next week or so with one of the heart specialists at Bedford Hospital and from that I will learn what they have discovered from the scans. I'm not too worried about all this as I know that they know what they're doing.

Well, the reports eventually came back from all the tests and I was told that I wouldn't need any sort of surgery, and that the medication I was put on is sufficient to manage my heart problems. I don't need any sort of surgery.

The medication I was originally put on was Clopodogrel, (which I have since been taken off by my doctor.), Bisoprolol, Pravastatin and Dispersible Asprin. I have been on several types of Statin tablets, but they have had severe side-effects. When I was in hospital the Statin drugs I was on gave me flu-like symptoms, and it wasn't until I talked to one of the nurses that I discovered that this was that particular statin drug which had that side effect, so it was changed to another type. I have since been on several other types of Statin drugs, all of which have side effects, usually upsetting my stomach, causing me to run to the toilet a great deal, stomach and muscle cramps, sleeplessness and tiredness. This seems to be fairly general with these drugs, but I have found that Pravastatin has the least side effects. The statins are for lowering the level of cholesterol in my blood, which is what causes blood clots and leads to heart attacks and strokes. Asprin prevents blood clots.

I have had two emergency visits to hospital, one when I had a really bad angina attack and another similar one in May 2007. On both occasions I had to stay in over-night as they wanted to keep an eye on me. After the May 2007 attack I had to undergo two sessions of tests, one done on a treadmill, to test my heart's strength, and another where they put a drug into my blood stream which made my heart beat faster, as if I had been doing strenuous evercise, and they used an ultra sound scan to see my heart working. On both cases it appeared relatively healthy. I have not had any really severe angina attacks since then, but if I do get an attack I use the red spray, which helps to relieve the pain.