Latest update April 24th, 2024 12:59 AM
Oct 26, 2014 News
By Sharmain Grainger
The possible formation of a support group for heart patients is currently being discussed among
some patients of the Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI).
The relatively novel idea to these parts is one that is receiving favourable consideration by CHI’s management and was premised on the fact that a number of patients have to adopt complete life changes before and especially after surgery. There are other matters related to having a heart operation done that many (patients) often find they need tremendous support for.
“I know what I had to go through, in terms of everything, like meeting the financial obligation, the emotional (aspect) and other things,” said Gregory Blyden of his experience as a heart patient at CHI.
While an official support group is not in place, he recalled that while awaiting a heart operation at CHI, he was able to observe an interesting system whereby patients who previously underwent operations visited and sought to enlighten him along with others about their past experiences.
“To me that’s a plus…the nurses did tell me about what to expect and so forth, but those are from the nurses… but when you hear it from another patient you realise that this is not artificial this is real, because you are hearing it from the perspective of someone who has passed through this thing, and so it helps to boost your confidence,” Blyden reflected.
And it is imperative to understand the extent of an operation, Blyden asserted as he pointed out that any heart surgery is a “major, major complicated surgery.” For this reason, he noted that he has personally learnt that patients must always seek to first be very relaxed ahead of surgery.
It is for this reason he is convinced that patients (past and current) can come together to form a much needed patient support group.
Because of a critical blockage (or single vessel disease) Blyden was required to undergo a bypass operation to the main artery on the left side of the heart. He remembers vividly a lot of what happened before and after his operation which was conducted in early September at CHI, and disclosed during an interview with this publication that he is recovering well.
This is evident by the fact that most of the preceding symptoms that forced him to go to the facility have since dissipated.
“Less than one month after surgery I was able to move around without my heart giving me pains; I don’t feel that, so surely that has improved. I don’t have shortness of breath like I used to have.” noted Blyden.
Although he was initially attended to by Dr Mahendra Carpen, the resident Cardiologist at CHI, Blyden’s operation was conducted by Chief Executive Officer of CHI and Cardiac Surgeon, Dr Gary Stephens.
Ahead of the operation he was required to undergo a number of tests, some of which he resented, in light of the fact that he has a fear of needles. He was nicknamed “cry-a-baby” by the CHI staffers as a result. Nevertheless, he noted that they (CHI staffers) were very instrumental helping him to learn to relax, especially the Anaesthesiologist, Dr Alexandria Harvey.
“She really made me relax; she helped me build confidence and gave me the assurance that you will not experience pain. It was nevertheless a scary experience for me, because there were needles coming out of my neck, needle in my hands,” recalled Blyden, who also prepared himself for surgery by looking at heart procedure videos on YouTube.
“I kept comforting myself by saying I am not afraid, God is in charge, and all is well.”
While many patients develop symptoms of heart condition during their adult years, the 55-year-old Blyden, who lectures in the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Guyana, recalled that his symptoms were in fact with him for years. For this reason he considered himself a rather unique patient.
“I didn’t even realise it…but now I can recall some of these things….I had shortness of breath and things like that use to happen to me (in my) late teenage years; also when I was using the washroom I would feel nauseated and wanted to faint, but I never really gave it any thought,” recounted Blyden during a recent interview with this publication.
But it was not until perhaps more than 10 years ago that he first had an inkling of concern about a possible heart condition. It was during a routine medical examination when an electrocardiography (ECG) was done and revealed some irregular details about his heart. Although this development was pointed out by a doctor, neither Blyden nor the attending physician followed up on that discovery.
Life continued as usual, with Blyden at times suffering from intense heart palpitations.
“I would just be sitting doing nothing at times and this thing will just start going; other times I would be doing work,” recalled the lecturer, as he noted that climbing the stairway to his second floor office at the University was a very difficult task.
Yet he didn’t direct keen attention to this situation but would instead “give it (the region of his heart) two good thumps…and it would seem to return to normal.”
But his condition would take a turn for the worse last October after he lost his father and younger brother, a situation that was compounded when he misplaced a flash drive with some very important work. Blyden is currently reading for a Masters in Education and some of his work in this regard was on the misplaced gadget.
“I lost my work and all kinds of things, so maybe things just started to build-up,” he opined.
Blyden, who is a member of the Woodside Choir, noted that it was during a performance at the National Cultural Centre in November of last year that he started to develop an excruciating pain that ran down his left arm. The occasion was the Ministry of Tourism’s award ceremony.
“I was just praying for the performance to end,” said Blyden who later spoke with two senior members who encouraged him to visit CHI.
At CHI, he was soon placed on the waiting list for surgery and before long was being prepared for surgery. During this time, too, he was prescribed a series of medication, and was required to undergo a stress test, and according to Blyden, “I failed that miserably”.
And perhaps some of the stress was linked to the fact that “everything has a cost”, so while trying to obtain the requisite funding, he recounted that he was forced to rely on prayers and medication, which according to him “helped to lull (the pain) and also my own consciousness helped to bring about a change in my lifestyle.” And some of the changes, he noted, entailed him transforming from the busybody he had grown accustomed to many years ago.
“I had to sort of relax on my activities a lot.”
It was then, too, he would also take consideration of the fact that his family had a long history of heart complications. His mother, he recalled, left home one day to attend a senior citizens programme and never returned home. She suffered a massive heart attack. His paternal grandmother died of a stroke which has similar cause factors as a heart attack.
But with a support group, Blyden is convinced that persons will be able to better understand and deal with their heart conditions in addition to the advice forthcoming from medical professionals.
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