Previously I had noticed that I was sweating a lot, especially after a long walk, and at that time I when I was working in Istanbul I was staying at a place called Tunel and then walking up to Taxim Square, a twenty minute or so walk. It was a walk I used to enjoy, but was beginning to find I did not want to do, only to arrive in the course with my shirt soaking wet.
I was asked to give a course in Antalya in the South of Turkey by the sea, and my translator at the time, Asuman Yildirim, decided to learn scuba diving in the evenings. I am a Master Diver with over 600 dives under my weight belt, and my metaphors in class obviously was an inspiration for her to take up the hobby. On her qualifying dive I joined her and her instructor, only for my world to turn up side down, literally, I had to abort my dive.
Getting back to the UK, I went to my doctor to checkout my little ailments, and after cardiovascular stress tests and angiogram, I was given the stent, and tablets to take for the rest of my life.
I listened to what the medical professionals had to say what was happening to me, and thought I understood, but really it was like the Energy Saving Lamps articles, all I knew was at the surface level, I did not really understand.
Yes, I was modifying my life style, eating differently, difficult when staying in hotels, eating in restaurants in foreign countries, not knowing what I was eating. I tried to modify my daily exercise by walking more, doing exercises.
I had an idea why, because exercise helps you loose weight and strengthens the heart, and eating good food helps stop the fatty food, cholesterol entering the blood system, thus clogging the heart.
Then there were all these good fats, bad fats, trans fats, triglycerides, HDL’s, LDL’s, plaque, lipids, cholesterol, hypertension, high blood pressure, figures and measurements that just meant nothing to me.
All I knew was there was something wrong, I had procedure which involved placing a stent in my heart which widened the artery.
It was as if I was looking at the white Energy Saving Lamp, not knowing what was inside or how things work.
Back in March 2007 I wrote in my blog Monday, the day before my birthday, how I had to under go an angioplasty, that is to have a stent inserted into a constricted artery in my heart. A common procedure.
As I monitored my own health, my well being, I began to notice changes, I had slowed down, at one time I noticed my short term memory had gone due to the drugs I was taking then, and I had aches and pains, one in the right side of my neck. Just a dull pain, like a stiff neck after a bad nights sleep.
I sometimes got an indigestion pain from eating too many cashew nuts or too much beef, (yes I am strange), and as I reported these to my doctor in the UK, my medication was modified. But I felt like a hypochondriac, always having something wrong with me. I was like my old Mazda RX7, getting on in years, a collectors item, worth its weight in gold, but bits and pieces wearing out and needing replacing.
My visits to Malaysia with the high temperature and humidity makes my ankles and feet swell, not an uncommon symptom for non tropical climate living visitors I am told, but when I mentioned something else, I was taken, against my wishes, to a local doctor, Doctor Tan Hong Ping of the Pusat Pakar Union practice in Alma, Bukit Mertajam.
Dr Tan listened to my story and put my mind at rest, along with others, but suggested that I should have a CT Scan on my heart at the Penang Adventist Hospital, just to see if anything was wrong there.
A starvation diet was requested, well no food after 12 midnight, for my 9am appointment. A quick check of my blood pressure and heart rate, which needed to be slowed down a fraction, then it was into the CT Scan room.
A very simple procedure, just to have an intravenous drip placed into the arm to feed a dye into the blood stream, which will then show- up on the CT Scan, it as a matter of just to lie there and follow instructions.
An arch was remotely moved into position over my chest, with its internal components spinning round, and the instruction to hold my breath three times was given. The only uncomfortable part was when the dye was pumped into my blood stream, this gave a warm sensation in my ears and the same warm sensation in my private parts. Interesting.
That was it, let the computer do the rest, to give a three dimensional representation of my heart, and for me to go back the next day and get the results.
So of we went, to visit Queensbay Shopping Mall, the Borders (MY) bookshop, and for a book to present itself, to jump off the shelf, I was not even looking for a book on that subject, consciously that is, that will change your life. Those who have taken my PhotoReading course will understand.