Is it time to see the doc to get your heart unblocked?
Nagging your mate about his health might just save his life. A few weeks ago my friend and occasional tennis partner, Gary “Trentley’’ Murphy, struggled for breath after a particularly long rally.
Long for us, anyway. Three shots over the net.
The following week he became breathless after walking around the block. I suggested perhaps a visit to the doc was in order.
His GP wasn’t available so I told him to go to the hospital. Trentley scoffed at this as overkill. By this point, admittedly, I was enjoying harassing him. Besides, he’d made fun of me when I’d needed a heart stent years previously, despite being younger.
The only reason I’d gone for a scan was because my good mate, John Cobby, harassed me.
We had received a royalty cheque for the book about his late wife and John suggested I spend $500 on the scan (It’s now about $800).
I was only 54, felt fine and thought a scan was a waste of money. John persisted. That led me to my GP, which led me to a cardiologist, which led me to an angiogram, which led to my stent and the fact that I’m still alive today.
Thank you, John Cobby.
The cardiologist found that I had a 70 per cent blockage in one of my arteries, most likely caused by a certain amount of unhealthy living over the years (smoking, drinking heavily, being a journalist) and a previously unknown inherited genetic predisposition to high cholesterol.
He told me they would have to insert a stent in the blocked artery.
Years ago this would have required a bypass operation involving opening me up, so to speak, and repairing the blocked artery with a stripped vein from elsewhere in my body.
Many days in hospital. Weeks of recuperation.
But my cardiologist (at my age everyone has a “my cardiologist”) said they would insert a balloon along with the stent either through a vein in my wrist or groin – an angioplasty, during which I wouldn’t even be under full anaesthetic.
The operation would take less than an hour and I could go home that evening.
The next day I went for a walk on the beach. The only scar I had from my heart surgery, as I like to call it, was a bandage on my wrist where they had inserted the angio tube carrying the stent.
Stubbing a toe is more painful. “I wish I’d gone in through the groin so you felt at least some discomfort and maybe consider your lifestyle choices a bit more,’’ my surgeon joked.
He then showed me the before and after photos, which clearly illustrated the blockage and how much more blood was now getting to my heart – and a few other relevant parts, if you know what I mean.
I bored my mate Trentley with all of this and to shut me up he went to the hospital where they quickly gave him an angiogram and found a 90 per cent blockage. Days later they gave him a stent.
They supplied him with his before and after images. “You show me yours and I’ll show you mine,’’ he dared.
With his 90 per cent blockage, now fixed with a stent, he’d been at worse risk than me. Trentley’s cardiologist told him he hadn’t been far from a heart attack. Very possibly a fatal one.
In 2020, about 56,700 people aged 25 and over experienced a form of heart attack or unstable angina, of which 6900 or 12 per cent were fatal.
Displaying our pre and post pictures is routine among the cardiac complication community.
My colleague Tim Blair suffered a heart attack in January and then received a stent. His before and after scans, shown on this page, makes him a clear victor in the “you show me yours” stakes.
Believe me, it’s a competition you don't want to win.
So do your mate a favour. If he complains of feeling short of breath or of being perhaps a little tired, nag him to visit the doctor.
Or, if you're over 50, just get a scan.