Please read on but navigate to the bottom of the page, to the last story with the picture of a madeira cake. It appears to be written back to front!
It is some time since I originally wrote these entries. A few months ago I came across a Facebook group called Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). Now, I am not a big one for sharing personal feelings in public. I principally wrote this blog to benefit myself. I did not care who read it and I do not think in the ensuing year or so any of the entries has broken the magic number of 100 views!
The SCA has been an absolute mine of information for me as it has allowed me to see that first of all, there are many other survivors and secondly that compared to others I have come away with relatively few issues. By that I mean that my event has left me not needing anything other than a single stent. This is compared to others who have various devices implanted in them to keep them going.
A similar theme seems to be the amount of time folks take to 'get over' their event. I think without a shadow of doubt I have suffered from PTSD. I go through spells of waking up with a violent jerk at around 1.15 am, although my event took place at around 13.30!. I then find myself wide awake and have to get up and have a cuppa and kill an hour before venturing back. My body is constantly cold. I now wear socks in bed! I am cold to touch most of the time. My memory issues are ongoing and vary from day to day. My long term memory seems definitely to be getting stronger but short term is still very patchy. I fatigue very easily and for someone who was always extremely confident in his ability and as strong as an ox I now struggle to carry in the shopping in one journey!
I think that I am exceptionally lucky in that I have to care 24/7 for my wife. This means that I do not have a lot of time to sit and feel sorry for myself. In turn, I have had to deal as best I can with any issues that I come across. In reading posts from many others on the site, I gain a sense that many many people, especially in the early months/years really do struggle. Like myself, since being discharged they have had zero involvement with the NHS in the way of aftercare. This is directly as opposed to others who in the early days anyway, have a plethora of crutches to help them get along. It is a strange old world in which we live!