Paul's Profile

Well where do I start? Firstly my hospital was the Royal Adelaide here in Adelaide, South Australia. There is no way of adding that to the basic details above. At 55 and with no family history of heart conditions, Diabetes, obesity, cancers or early deaths I figured I had pretty healthy genetic makeup. My Grandmother passed away at 103 from natural old age causes and touch wood, my father is still going strong, fit and healthy at 86 and my mother, at 80 smokes like a chimney and has the usual arthritis problems, other than a few other minor issues there is nothing Major. Our Family does however suffer a hereditary/ genetic problem with indigestion. Uncles, Father, Sister and myself usually using over the counter antacids for relief for many many years. So it was that on the Thursday 25th February 2016 while enjoying a country walk I got the usual indigestion, usually from bending etc. but this time it seemed worse than usual. Time for me to actually get some proper medical treatment for this indigestion, surgery or something similar on my stomach I thought. Off to the local hospital I went. Now the arguments with the doctors started, they had no idea what they were talking about. I presented with indigestion, no other usual pains of anything more sinister. As an ex Ambulance Officer I knew and had treated the signs and symptoms of many a cardiac condition. None of which were what I was experiencing. Still in denial I eventually had to accept that I had suffered an angina attack, no signs , no symptoms and I was 55 not 75 or 85 and still too young. So here I am now, around 9 weeks post Op and still wondering what the hell happened? I have the zipper scar and another three below that I see in the mirror and think "this is wrong", "I am dreaming " or " am I still alive here"? My discharge from hospital 7 days after the op went without issue, coming down from highs caused by powerful pain medications, I was still in fairyland and had no idea what nurses and doctors were telling me. At home it is good old "Doctor Google" to the rescue. Now not only have I had a double bypass, I am suffering from things I have never heard of. Quite a bit more searching brought me across this site. A place for real answers from real people who have really been there. Unfortunately it is not an Australian site but none the less we are all the same. So many questions in the early days with no realistic answers. I, like many have been through much anxiety and worry. Pity I didn't find this place earlier. So it is some 9 weeks now, my sternum feels sort of fully healed but I am not ready to push the boundaries just yet. I will however keep reading through the stories here to rebuild my confidence and try to get my life back as I knew it.