Walking has been a health saviour for Turner
He walks for three hours a day and in the last year has taken two-million physical steps in a bid to keep healthy. Jim Turner, Medicine Hat city councillor, had a health scare a year ago that saw him fighting for his life. When Turner felt some pain in his chest last summer he thought he’d pulled a muscle from the physical effort of planting a number of apple trees.
He had Type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol but he was the kind of man who had a physical every year and thought things were OK.
When the pain in his chest was still there a week later his wife convinced him to see the doctor. After an EKG he was told he’d had a heart attack and advised to go directly to the emergency department.
Within days he was flown to Calgary for an angiogram. He underwent a triple bypass and the surgery was successful.
Days later he suddenly became ill and the physician informed him he had a “major infection” and more surgery would be required. He was told his white cell count should be about 10 and his was 40.
They started pumping him with antibiotics and one apparently affected his kidneys.
“I had kidney failure,” said Turner with a little chuckle — all a distant thought right now as he looks the picture of health. Turner says he did not know if he would make it. After the second surgery he had a hole in his chest which required more surgery. He ended up spending eight weeks in hospital.
“When I came out I struggled to walk up the four steps into my house. I’d lost 80 pounds.”
He started walking about 45 minutes each day and then began tracking on his phone how many steps he was taking on those walks.
Turner is now walking three hours a day and last Saturday hit the two-million point or the equivalent of 1,500 km. “I thought I lived a healthy lifestyle. Obviously not,” said Turner. “I guess my message is first of all that walking is good for you even if you only walk 20 minutes every other day. You’ll find that if you start walking the more you walk the better you’ll feel and more energy you’ll have.”
Turner is curious to know what his episode in hospital cost taxpayers and says he’s asked Alberta Health Services to tell him. The other fringe benefit of all his walking — his Type 2 diabetes, for which he required medication, is totally gone and his good cholesterol is up and his bad cholesterol level is normal.
“The doctors tell me my heart is totally normal,” said Turner.
Before his heart attack he remembers being out of breath when he climbed stairs but put it down to getting older.
Turner suggests getting up 30 minutes earlier and going for a walk around the block.
“I have so much energy now I don’t know what to do,” he said with a big smile. Here’s to walking and here’s To Your Health. To Your Health is a weekly column by Gillian Slade, health reporter for the News, bringing you news on health issues and research from around the world. You can reach her by telephone at 403-528-8635.