It is the modern age, so I sent them an email.
Hey my lovelies, am leaving my original message below as it does have more of the hard data so to speak, but basically having an op soon which has potential ramifications for you due to genetics, and any op has potential downsides. I am sure I will be alright, I was pretty smacked when I was originally told as I am fit I am strong, my heart is strong etc just stuffed plumbing due to genetics...we calcify our fats ...any way, I have to tell you as I am advised you might think of me as a turd if I did not as my action was going to be not mention it. So that is how I rate it bit I will leave my original message as I was feeling a little low and it does contain factsI
Love you as always and do not worry..
Dad and 2nd Dad
I could tell you this face to face but I struggle with how I might just drop it into the conversation without it becoming bigger than Ben Hur. This way will take some of the emotion out of it and will allow what is known of the truth to be displayed like a pack of spread cards. I need you to come on a little journey with me. I have been given some news which requires sharing but I am unsure as to what the future will hold.
I have recently been having my heart checked. To this end I have had an ECG which tests the electrics of your heart. I had an ECG test performed whilst undertaking a stress test. They get you to exercise on a treadmill whilst they monitor the performance of your heart. They pushed me heaps making the treadmill work faster and steeper and I came through that one with flying colors. I then had an ultrasound of my heart which as they described is like looking at the founndations and structures of the heart if it were a dwelling. Everything was perfect. The heart specialist was very pleased but when I reiterated my family history;
- Mother having by pass surgery at 58 years old
- Mum's dad dead at 47
- 6 or so of Mum's brothers dead by 50 although they were smokers
he said "If you like we can do a CT scan of the heart. Nothing to be lost and the procedure is not invasive as an operative angiogram would be." The CT scan is like checking out the plumbing. What the heck I thought, better to be safe than sorry so I booked and had my CT angiogram.
They were to get back to me pretty quickly once they had read the CT scans so when I had not heard anything I assumed I was in the clear.
I rarely answer the phone at home but happened to Tuesday morning as I was preparing for work that afternoon.
"David H******* here, we need to check you in for an operative angiogram. You have a blockage in one of your arteries."
"Will you stent this?" I asked
"I will try to get a stent in... it isn't always possible".
A stent is a tube or balloon that is inserted into the area of the blockage in the artery and expanded and then left in place effectively opening the blockage.
My heart was racing, this was not the news I had wanted to hear but I could think of nothing to ask him.
"So is that just a day off work?"I asked ever so practical," and how soon?". The answer was within four weeks. It needed to be done soon.
Anyway, I was now in a bit of a blur as I had no real information. I got on line and filled my head with as much basic information as I could find.There is as you know lots of information on the net but you need to be sceptical of it all as to what really is the truth.
Two weeks later I was able to collect my films and read the radiologist report directly.It made sobering reading I am afraid and I await further answers when I see David H********* again at the time of my operative procedure.
I will admit that I was loathe to tell you as I did not want to worry anyone, I do not want to be my mother and there are still many questions to ask and answers to be revealed. For the moment though, the arteries that are associated with my heart are mildly or moderately blocked. I have the heart of a seventy year old.
The report says I will without treatment be dead in two to five years. Yes, I thought so too!
However, I have the knowledge and now comes the future. What that will be is of course uncertain but I know with your love there will be a satisfactory outcome.
Look at my mother, she hardly died prematurely at 83 or so!
As you can imagine my brain has been racing and covering all sorts of ground in so many far off and convoluted pathways. Nothing like a disaster to hone the mind.
I was in my mid thirties when I was asked to provide a blood sample during a conference so the company with the machine which analyses the sample, could get a good range of what levels of cholesterol existed in the population.My result was alarming as it should read around 4 or less and I came in at 12! I went for further tests, I had a young family, I needed to know more about this problem.A strict diet that eliminated all fat reduced the cholesterol figure to 10.6 or thereabouts. A reduction in total cholesterol of ten percent is about normal and about the highest that can be achieved without medication.
Total cholesterol is only part of the issue anyway, it is a crude measure.You need to have total cholesterol broken down into its components of HDL high density lipoproteins, LDL low density lipoproteins and triglycerides. HDL is good, LDL is bad and trigs are not great. You. can change the levels of the components with diet and especially exercise.However the issue was my cholesterol was too high, medication was and is still used to bring it down but despite my level now being around 5, I have still got hardened and blocked arteries. This is as a result of genetics.Familial hypercholesteraemia. You too could have it and at some stage you should get it investigated. I gave been on cholesterol lowering drugs for over twenty years now. People with high cholesterol do not seem to get cancer as a general rule, low cholesterol is associated with higher rates of cancer. Hey there has to one bonus ha ha.
So at some stage they will give me a date for the next stage in this new journey and I will have my operative angiogram. I will then know more about my predicament. There will be plenty of questions to ask...I have been making a list. There are some risks with having a wire poked into an artery in your groin and this wire under x ray visualisation, being guided into the various sections of the heart. There is a 1% chance I could die. There is a 2% chance I will need to be flown to Sydney for emergency heart surgery. Complications are a part of life but always happen to other people okay.Let us deal with the positives and there are always opals in the dirt if you are prepared to look.
- At least I found out earlier than some fateful unaware day of being somewhere and suddenly clutching at my chest gasping for air to fall off this planet so gracelessly.
- I don't think there is anything unresolved between us.
- I believe you know how much I love you and how my life has been so enriched by my experiences with you.That is a constant.
So let us not worry, let us move on and lets get the next bit out of the way. At least you know what is happening and at some stage you should have your own set of basic tests to evaluate your own risks of taking on an inherited issue.
Verbose as always. All my love
Dad
I wish now I had kept it simple. Oh well.
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