Heart Surgery
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
A Message from the heart
The writer was admitted to hospital on Friday 14th April 2000 with a life-threatening heart problem: the main artery supplying oxygen to his heart muscle had developed a serious constriction, reducing blood flow to less than 5% of normal. Emergency treatment was needed within hours to save the heart tissue from death. Angioplasty (inserting a tiny balloon into the heart via the femoral artery, and then inflating it at high pressure to open out the blockage), followed by inserting a stent (a small tube of Teflon reinforcing material), produced the solution to the problem. Normal heart functionality was restored.
This is an open letter to the doctor who performed the technique:
Dear Sir,
I am writing to thank you for extending the quality and the quantity of my life.
When our paths crossed at the hospital last Friday, I realise that my heart was nearing the end of its working life.
From the outside, I have little doubt that all seemed far from well with the workings of my body. From the inside, a number of relatively trivial problems with my health had snowballed into something much more serious. I had suddenly and prematurely reached the point where I no longer felt that I could take for granted the expectation of waking up next morning and pitching into life's challenges.
I do not underestimate how precarious my situation was, but it is perhaps a symptom of my new-found release from feeling totally clapped-out that I much prefer to look forward to the future rather than dwell on the past.
I cannot imagine starting a new day without feeling fortunate to have met you and been a beneficiary of your medical skills as well as those of your colleagues. I do, however, recognise that my survival owes at least as much to your managerial abilities (bringing together human and material resources to achieve an objective) and your personal qualities (refusing to drop a problem until it is solved). I realise that the specialists I needed so urgently and the facilities they needed for their work were fully booked. I didn't have enough life left in me to wait. Your creativity and persuasiveness unlocked the doorway to the treatment I so desperately needed.
Whatever benefit will flow from my continuance as a husband, father, adviser, friend, taxpayer, consumer, etc., will owe a debt of gratitude to the commitment you chose to give to me, your patient.
When we met I was happy to recount how ill I felt. Please allow me a second to now tell you how well I feel. I feel great. Physically. Mentally. My get-up-and-go has got-up-and-come-back to me. I am reminded of the phrase "getting a new lease of life". I feel grateful and happy and hope that I can use my experience to motivate me to invest more in structural maintenance (i.e: my ongoing health and fitness).
Thankyou not only for helping me to survive, but my renewed sense of well-being. Thankyou for giving me back my life - from the bottom of my heart.:-)
The writer was admitted to hospital on Friday 14th April 2000 with a life-threatening heart problem: the main artery supplying oxygen to his heart muscle had developed a serious constriction, reducing blood flow to less than 5% of normal. Emergency treatment was needed within hours to save the heart tissue from death. Angioplasty (inserting a tiny balloon into the heart via the femoral artery, and then inflating it at high pressure to open out the blockage), followed by inserting a stent (a small tube of Teflon reinforcing material), produced the solution to the problem. Normal heart functionality was restored.
This is an open letter to the doctor who performed the technique:
Dear Sir,
I am writing to thank you for extending the quality and the quantity of my life.
When our paths crossed at the hospital last Friday, I realise that my heart was nearing the end of its working life.
From the outside, I have little doubt that all seemed far from well with the workings of my body. From the inside, a number of relatively trivial problems with my health had snowballed into something much more serious. I had suddenly and prematurely reached the point where I no longer felt that I could take for granted the expectation of waking up next morning and pitching into life's challenges.
I do not underestimate how precarious my situation was, but it is perhaps a symptom of my new-found release from feeling totally clapped-out that I much prefer to look forward to the future rather than dwell on the past.
I cannot imagine starting a new day without feeling fortunate to have met you and been a beneficiary of your medical skills as well as those of your colleagues. I do, however, recognise that my survival owes at least as much to your managerial abilities (bringing together human and material resources to achieve an objective) and your personal qualities (refusing to drop a problem until it is solved). I realise that the specialists I needed so urgently and the facilities they needed for their work were fully booked. I didn't have enough life left in me to wait. Your creativity and persuasiveness unlocked the doorway to the treatment I so desperately needed.
Whatever benefit will flow from my continuance as a husband, father, adviser, friend, taxpayer, consumer, etc., will owe a debt of gratitude to the commitment you chose to give to me, your patient.
When we met I was happy to recount how ill I felt. Please allow me a second to now tell you how well I feel. I feel great. Physically. Mentally. My get-up-and-go has got-up-and-come-back to me. I am reminded of the phrase "getting a new lease of life". I feel grateful and happy and hope that I can use my experience to motivate me to invest more in structural maintenance (i.e: my ongoing health and fitness).
Thankyou not only for helping me to survive, but my renewed sense of well-being. Thankyou for giving me back my life - from the bottom of my heart.:-)
