Heart Scare

H is for
Heart Scare
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John woke up.The hiss of the oxygen mask on his face told him that it
wasn,t a dream.He was in hospital.In the cardiac care ward to be
precise.Jesus he thought.It hadn,t been a heart attack but the last
thing he remembered was coming into the emergency section with a letter
from his doctor ordering tests for chest pains that he had had for
years.
It was stress and a mental not physical problem.He looked around the
large ward.Beds filled with pasty faced old men some of whom were
struggling for breath.John had a phobia about heart disease and this
was scaring the shit out of him.He was hooked up to dozens of wires and
a constant steady bleeping came from his monitor.One of the nurses saw
that he was wakened and came over.
Hello John how are we?
We are fine but there,s an elephant sitting on my chest.
Well it,s nothing to worry about but we,ll find out soon.
She gave him a couple of pills ,checked the readout and smiled.
Everything is okay.
He soon fell asleep.Must be valium thought John as he drifted off.When
he woke up a young doctor was doing his rounds.He came over to
John.
Ahh Mr Walker in the land of the living are we?We,ve looked at your
charts but can,t really say why you,re getting these pains.It,s not
your heart but we,ll send you up to the Royal in Glasgow for more
tests.
John closed his eyes in frustration and fear.
What will they do, doctor?
Well they may do an angiogram or maybe angioplasty.That,s a way of
inflating a small balloon inside the artery to widen it.
John was shattered.He had never felt so low.He had come in for simple
tests and now they were talking about surgery.God he was only thirty
four.This was a bad dream.
Not to worry we,ve done them thousands of times.You,ll be transferred
tomorrow.
That night he could hardly sleep for worry.And to add to this they
brought in a heart attack victim and worked on her all night.His blood
pressure was through the roof.He wanted to get dressed and scarper in a
taxi.Screw their angiogram.
Next day he was taken by air ambulance up to GlasgowThe lack of sleep
and the air turbulence was murdering his resolve and nerves.He was put
into a single room and the doctor explained next days procedure.He lay
all day thinking about his life.He wanted to die today.He did,nt
care.Next day he was taken down to the theatre and under a light
anaesthetic the doctor passed a fine hollow tube up his body into his
heart and squirted blue dye to trace the state f his arteries.John
watched it all on the bank of monitors.It lasted for fifteen minutes
and the doctor confirmed that his heart was healthy.He was so
relieved.That moment changed his life.Back in the ward he cried
silently.The doctor came round and told him that it was an infection in
his oesophagus and gave him medicine to take from now on.
Next day he left hospital a new man.Reborn.He had faced his one phobia
and beaten it.Life was sweet.