Activators beware! - update

Hi All,

Just a brief note to say that I am now back at home after a triple heart bypass. Currently the only slight concern is some dampness in the lower left lung and the pain is well under control with codeine. No dout will all level out in due course.

Seeing others affected by heart surgery in the hospital recovering at a much slower rate made me pleased that I was reasonably fit on account of taking up SOTA in 2006. Let’s get the message out there - participation is good for you!

73, Gerald G4OIG

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Great news Gerald.

73 Allan GW4VPX

Great to hear you are home Gerald take care and look forward to that 2mtr
contact on HEMA,just the little ones first.73 Don.

I was thinking it must be around now when you were going in for your Dyno-Rod session. Very glad to hear they managed to rod you through OK and you have started on the road to recovery.

I’ll try to not post anything that will make you laugh too much in case you come unstitched :smile:

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Good show, great to hear your home already. Take it easy ish and catch-up sometime.

73 Neil & Cat

G0FEX
Hi Gerald
Great to hear that you are out of hospital, just take it easy, as Don says little one’s
first.
Ken

Great to hear about your progress. Onward and upward!

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Great to hear you are out of hospital and your triple heart bypass went well. I hope you make a full recovery soon.

Jimmy M(J)0HGY

Great news, Gerald. Glad you are past that hurdle. The bypass surgery is amazing use of medical technology and skills. The sutures they use to attach the grafted arteries are about the diameter of a human hair. They need to use magnifying glasses to see what they are doing, just as well too.
I found the rehabilitation classes offered by the hospital were very helpful, they let me know what kinds of exercise to do to regain strength in the chest. Do make use of such services if you have the chance.

I have just passed a year after my similar surgery in May 2017 and I am going well.

Let’s hope your cautionary tale is taken seriously by our friends here.

73 Andrew VK1DA/VK2UH

Well done that boy, and as Gerald - WML says “onwards and upwards!” Now then where did I leave that whisky flask for a wee nip-or-two - if your interested? Hold on - that could be your demise - hi hi!!!

Looking forward to catching you (both) back in GM land for a few more ‘Completes’

73

Jack(;>J

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Gerald,

All the best, and hang in there. Three stents here after my heart attack in late 2005, but the rehab folks are great to get you going again. While I still hike, it’s just not as fast as I used to. And hiking is great, I absolutely detest walking on a treadmill. Much better outdoors in the air walking on dirt and enjoying yourself. Start easy, enjoy the hike/being outdoors and have fun.

All the best,

Mike, N4VBV

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Great news and wishing you a continued speedy recovery.

M/W6PNG

Excellent news, Gerald.
I am sure it will not be long before your therapeutic walks get long enough to take in a little hill :slight_smile:
73,
Rod

Well done Gerald. Brave man! Three grafts. Now the waiting is over hope the recovery is swift. You’re right, I think being fit helps significantly. We have a lot to thank SOTA for. Without is we wouldn’t have half the drive to stay fit.

Speedy recovery but don’t overdo it,
73, John

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Many thanks for all the comments and best wishes for my recovery. So far things are going very well and all under the Eagle eye of Bev my XYL who, far from having nailed my feet to the floor, is taking a pragmatic approach.

One issue that is likely to raise its head is how the local hospital rehab team react to a non-standard patient such as myself. I was not ill before I had surgery and thankfully I am not ill now. The guidelines say I should be working towards 1 to 2 miles at six weeks post-surgery. Well how does that equate with our fairly pacey 1 mile walk today at eight days post-surgery? What we are doing is taking the main parameters such as the need to get slightly breathless when exercising and using them as a guide. Hopefully there will not be any conflict when my rehab appointment eventually comes through for around 2 weeks time.

There are, of course, other issues to face and having three fairly major wound sites needs careful management. If someone has a surplus of sleep, then please send it over - I seem to have lost mine at the moment. I am also having some water retention issues. These matters will be resolved given time and the exercise regime will certainly help.

SOTA helped me prepare for the surgery and it will help me recover from it. I cannot do any “backpack training” until my sternum has healed and that will be at the 12 week stage. In the meantime, I hope to do some fairly avid chasing and may just appear on a summit or two where the kit does not need to be backpacked.

73 and regards to all,

Gerald G4OIG / G8CXK

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Really pleased to hear that all went well and you are recovering quickly. My only concern is you are going to be a racing snake for our joint celebratory activation of WS-001 :smile:

I can satisfy both of your needs - you can have the excess sleepiness (didn’t wake until nearly 9am) and the waterworks are rather active after the treatment :frowning:

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Hi Barry,

I promise to fit the 3S rather than the 4S cells to my pacemaker next Spring for WS-001.

Many thanks for the offer of the sleep. Several others obviously responded as well as I received several deliveries during the night interspersed with the need to exercise the waterworks, all to the effect that I actually lost just over 7lbs (3.2kg) of fluid overnight. I guess raising my legs higher than previously played a large part of that. :slight_smile:

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I managed to bring my nocturnal polyuria into control by better blood sugar management… sleeping all night was such an improvement. Now they’ve put me onto Dapagliflozide and yes, my sugars are 30% better which is wonderful at the expense of not being able to sleep for more than 3hrs :frowning:

We should broadcast this thread on 80m because of the medical content!

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I meant to ask if you will be posting any scar-selfies?

A friend had what you had done and some other work whilst they had him open. He had the most spectacular “gizzard to guts” scar I’ve seen.

No, my wingman has banned me from doing so and quite rightly so. We have ladies in SOTA and I would like to think that they will still speak to me when I get back on the hills. Thankfully the team at Papworth have used internal stitches, so there isn’t any metalwork to be removed. :wink:

As for sleeping all night, my high efficiency waterworks won’t allow that anyway - I get out once under normal circumstances. I do naturally drink lots of water and usually have a pint glass full of it to hand while working.

I am currently restricted to sleeping on my back, something I don’t usually do and it has taken some getting used to. It is too darn painful to do otherwise. Thankfully I am no longer having to adopt the “propped up” pose which inevitably pushes all the weight onto the backside, the cause of many bedsores. Horizontal is bliss! :slight_smile:

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