In July 2007 I had a heart attack with cardiac arrest that required 29 cardioversions/resuscitations and resulted in three stents for a 100% blocked right coronary artery and a triple bypass for blockages on the left side. I HAD NO PAIN OR CLASSIC SYMPTOMS and later found out that this is not uncommon for diabetics. It is this message that I want to promote in this blog plus my recovery process including lifestyle changes and my dealing with denial, depression, anxiety and ongoing health issues.
I want to raise an issue which I came across last night when giving a talk to a community service group (Rotary, Lions, Probus etc) here where I live. However, first I need to mention I am T2 diabetic and I am also a heart attack survivor and have/had Graves Disease (thyroid burnt out in 1998). I am on medication for all of the above and often can have issues with balancing my meds but that is fine, I am attuned this, know what to watch out for and have plans of action, including one for when a Hypo occurs. Now last night I was out giving a talk on behalf of Heart Foundation with whom I am a volunteer speaker. The topic was Recognizing Heart Attack symptoms and being aware of the risk factors of heart disease. I have done this talk a number of times but something happened during last night's talk to 36 people which got me thinking. Heart Foundation for a while has been running public awareness campaigns about heart disease etc. but what happened last night got me thinking about what the various Diabetes organizations are doing in the community regarding one aspect of Diabetes awareness and that is what to do if, when, someone has an hypoglycemic episode? About 20 mins in to my talk last night I noticed one lady put her hands on the table (it was a meeting where I was the guest speaker after dinner) and then watched her slowly put her head down and then rest it on the table. My initial thought was she is tired and then I thought, given the topic I was presenting that this could be a 'worst case scenario' of someone having a heart event at the meeting. Within minutes, others on the table looked concerned, some got up and huddled up around her and I heard the word DIABETES. I got down from the rostrum, went over to see if I could help and heard a comment that she had had a low blood reading earlier in the day and she didn't have any meds with her for her diabetes. The thought of this lady having a HYPO came to mind but given we had only had dinner a short time earlier I wasn't sure.
When I went up to the lady and looked at her and tried to speak to her, she was virtually unable to speak and I thought she was only minutes away from passing out. I ascertained it was a HYPO, organized for a glass of coke and went to my bag to get my jelly beans and proceeded to give her a few. After sipping down half of the glass of coke and eating a few of the jelly beans the lady picked up and within five minutes was sitting upright at the table as if nothing had happened. I went back to my talk, spoke to the lady afterwards and it was apparent she knew what happened but was just not prepared nor were any of those from the group I was addressing.
And this brings me to the issue, I believe, of the need for a public awareness campaign to be introduced of what to look out for in someone having an Hypoglycemic episode and what to do if this happens to a family member, a work colleague, a social friend etc. Campaigns abound re: T2 Diabetes just as they do for people learning CPR and how to us AED's but I am unaware of any awareness campaigns in the community to show people how to recognize a Hypo and how to help someone having an episode. So I am posing this question here for comment and suggestions. I know this is something I will pursue where and when I can both when I give talks and on Facebook and elsewhere but am interested to hear from others on this topic.
Learn more about hypoglycemia including symptoms and treatments using these links:
There are many things you have to worry about when
you live with diabetes, such as being unable to heal properly. Courtesy: Information About Diabetes
Don't let a small scrape or sore turn into a
serious concern.
Here are five things you should know about delayed
healing and preventing infection.
1. Poor Circulation
High blood sugar levels can harden the arteries and
cause blood vessels to become narrow. If this happens, it can lead to decreased
oxygen and blood flow to a wound. A wound that does not receive enough
nutrients and oxygen will heal much slower than normal.
High blood sugar levels can also negatively affect
how red blood cells carry nutrients to tissues, especially in the lower
extremities, such as the feet. When sugar levels are high, white blood cells
are not able to fight infection as efficiently as they should.
2. Neuropathy
When blood sugar levels are
not controlled, the nerves in the body can become affected, which can result in
a loss of sensation. This is called diabetic neuropathy, and it is another
important risk that diabetics must keep in mind when dealing with injuries, as
wounds can often go untreated or ignored because the awareness of pain has
changed or been lost. Patients will not feel when a blister, infection or
surgery wound has become a problem.
3. Ischemia
Ischemia occurs when there is short supply of blood
to body tissues. Ischaemic ulcers can often be the result of ill-fitting shoes
and generally happen where the foot and the shoe make contact. One example is
at the tip of the big toe or underneath the toe nails. Wounds like these may
worsen with pressure and develop a pale discoloration and reddening.
4. The Immune
System
When blood sugar levels are high, the immune system
is not able to protect or repair the body like it should, which raises the
danger of infection. Studies have shown that certain enzymes and hormones that the
body produces as a response to high blood sugar levels may be responsible for
negatively impacting the immune system.
5. Obesity
Obesity, which is often associated with type 2 diabetes,
can also have a negative effect on healing. One of the reasons why obesity can
undermine the healing process is because fatty tissue does not have all of the
nutrients that the blood cells need in order to recover.
How to Prevent
Infection and Improve Healing Time
Maintain a healthful diet full of nutrients that
help you regulate your blood sugar levels. Make sure your diet is full of
essential vitamins, such as vitamin C, which help with the healing process.
Be aware of your body and check for open wounds and
pressure points, especially on your feet. Keep an eye out for signs of
infection and contact your doctor if the wound does not appear to heal.
Maintaining a regular exercise routine
can help to lower blood sugar levels, maintain a healthy weight, and reduce
chronic inflammation. It may also help with cardiovascular health, which is
important for maintaining good circulation for the healing of existing wounds
and can help prevent future ones as well.
Been dealing with a number of health issues over the past 2-3 months and haven't felt a lot like posting. Between doctors and visits to hospitals for appointments, checkups and a procedure it would be fair to say I was not in the right frame of mind to add to this blog.
To date I have had 21 medical related appointments so far this year including attending specialist clinics at both of our hospitals for different conditions, a procedure, xrays and ultrasounds, blood tests and other various appointments. In addition to these I have five more appointments scheduled including two pre-admissions next week for another procedure early in June and I am waiting for a date for another procedure later in the year subject to being cleared by the anaethetist to being able to be 'put under'. And this does not include 25 medical appointments my wife has had this year for her issues including follow-up clinics re: breast cancer surgery and other issues.
Having said this, like many who deal with multiple health issues on a day to day basis, I have kept on (as has my wife) doing what I would normally do and most importantly keeping as busy as possible and when I felt tired due to my sugar levels being out of kilter (I am a T2 diabetic) I would simply take a nap - learnt a long time ago not to fight the urge to take a nap.
Keeping on keeping on through the health issues included volunteering at the Institute for Ultrasound where I am a volunteer patient for doctors, nurses and others learning the techniques involved to doing an ultrasound. Sometimes it is a session where people are simply updating their skills or learning another area of ultrasound that they may not be proficient in.
The other thing that I have kept up with is my six weekly talk to our local cardiac rehab group and I guess it was following yesterday's talk that I got the push, the motivation to post again on this blog.
Whilst giving my talk the question of MOTIVATION came up and the need to KEEP ON GOING even when things seem to be difficult or 'not going your way'. Actually, whilst talking about this I sort of got the motivation to post again and here I am.
The discussion about motivation came up when I was going through my experiences of finding things, positive things, that helped me deal with my recovery after my heart attack and bypass surgery, things like helping my wife look after injured wildlife which I never had time to do before my heart attack and my rediscovering photography, an old high school hobby.
Discussion on motivation covered different topics including giving up smoking, adjusting diet and developing an exercise routine as well as dealing with things like stress, depression and anxiety.
The word MODERATION came up when talking about changing to a healthier lifestyle such as reducing alcohol intake or the number of visits to fast food outlets.
Some talk took place yesterday as it has in previous talks about how sometimes we MASK how we are feeling to give the appearance that we are feeling well and dealing with life without any problems.
However, without question, the keyword yesterday was MOTIVATION and the need for people to find something to give them that 'OOMPH' to keep going when things get tough or when the urge strikes to go back to the 'old ways' crop up - and I related how I earlier this year for a month or two when I was dealing with various issues, personal and health, 'I fell off the wagon' and did little exercise and made some poor food choices like eating chocolate and biscuits and how these combined with my breathing problems and poor sleep resulted in my sugar levels spiking and my angina related pains returning and my feeling tired and lethargic all the time.
Maybe having a fourth grandchild last month was the motivation I needed or maybe it was just the self-realization that high blood sugars would sooner rather than later impact on my heart that shook me up and got me back to my daily exercise routine and eating better.
Whatever the case, with my sugars now back under control and my feeling better I knew it was time to start posting again, especially after those present yesterday gave me a round of applause after my talk - maybe that was the motivation I needed! Here is a link to a previous talk I have presented to our cardiac rehab unit. http://my29lives.blogspot.com.au/p/my-cardiac-rehab-talk-september-2011.html
On Thursday, I gave my second talk for the year to our local cardiac rehab unit with 23 people in attendance. Whilst setting up before the presentation a lady came over smiling and to say hello and introduce herself and remind me she was the person who co-ordinated a talk I gave for Heart Foundation to her local Probus group in July, 2012.
I told her I most definitely remembered that talk where she introduced me to the crowd of over 80 people who attended that day and I told her, to this day, it was one of my most satisfying talks. Apparently her husband had a bad asthma attack in December, not a heart attack, when they discovered he had some severe blockages that required a triple bypass hence here being there today with her husband. It was good to see both of them today and to see how well her husband is doing on his road to recovery.
As usually happens, people came up to me afterwards to ask questions and one was from the wife of someone who also had bypass surgery and was having issues with concentration, reading and memory. We talked a bit about this and I mentioned something called Postperfusion syndrome (also known as Pumphead) which is not unusual for someone who has had bypass surgery. She was worried, and rightly so, that it was something out of the norm and I tried to reassure her it is not unusual and it might be a good idea for both of them to have a chat with their GP or cardiologist where she could get a better explanation. I told her I am not a doctor and am not qualified to talk more about this condition but suggested she could also bring this up with one of the wonderful staff at cardiac rehab.
Another person who himself has previously had heart issues was there today with his wife who is now dealing with the after effects of a heart event and who is in denial and has a bit of dementia. He really was looking for understanding and support as I had brought up my issues dealing with depression and anxiety after my heart attack and during my recovery. Again, I referred him to the CR staff.
Still another person asked me how long it took for me to feel '100%'. My answer was simply we are all different and we all heal at a different pace after bypass surgery. I told him that I still have issues with fatigue and lack of stamina but told him I also deal with T2 diabetes, a thyroid condition, sleep apnoea and angina and that it is not unusual two or three or even four times a week for me to have an afternoon nap.
Another person brought up the question of the need for people 'like us' who have been through the process getting into schools and talking to high school kids about what has happened to us, in many cases, as a result of poor lifestyle choices - smoking, alcohol, drugs, lack of exercise, poor diet etc. This is a topic which has always been close to my heart (pun intended) and something I wanted to see implemented by a heart support group I was involved in setting up in late 2008. Unfortunately, others in the group did not see this as a priority.
Having left that group and then becoming involved in our Heart Foundation as a volunteer speaker I was asked last year to give a talk to one of our local high schools and over 70 students were in attendance. The impact of someone who has been through process of a heart attack and bypass surgery should not be underestimated on the impressionable minds of teenagers and is why I believe it is so important for 'survivors', if they are up to it, to get involved in this sort of activity as well as sharing their experience with their family, children, grandchildren, church, social and sporting clubs and work colleagues.
All in all, the day's talk went very well and I look forward to the next one in April.
Gave my first talk for the year at our cardiac rehab unit a couple
of days ago. Twenty-two in attendance and Evelyn (my wife) joined in after she finished
with an appointment in the same building re: her breast cancer surgery
follow-up.
After my talk the
floor was opened to questions and the first one that came up was about heart
support groups. I did my spiel about local groups and also talked about
Facebook (and SURVIVORS, one of the groups I am a member of) to some people who
came up to me after the talk for more information). That was well received. Click on the name SURVIVORSand you will be taken to the group page.
SURVIVORS - should you know of anyone who may benefit from a support group online this is one on Facebook you may wish to consider. This is a closed group so all discussions, conversations, questions are private and not shared in a public way. Another group I mentioned is Heart Attack and Stents which is also a private, closed group as is another group called Zipper Club. There is no right or wrong group and there are plenty of places on the internet and on Facebook where people can turn to to share experiences following a heart event and to ask questions but people must always remember that members of these groups are not doctors and that medical advice should only be sought from their specialist or family doctor.
Another question that came up asked about dealing with depression and
anxiety and I talked about my experiences and denial and talked about my coming
around to seeing a social worker where I could vent instead of taking things
out on Evelyn.
Another person
brought up an issue that he was having re: sleep apnoea and the run around he
was getting from specialists and doctors and his frustration (which was obvious
from his voice) trying to get a CPAP machine but his not getting any help. Was
able to talk about this a bit as I am going through this process at the moment
via our public health system.
And another topic
that was discussed dealt with rediscovering old hobbies like photography for
me, being negative and the need to recognize what we might have been doing
wrong that led up to our having a heart attack in the first place like diet,
exercise, smoking and dealing with stress - i.e. lifestyle changes.
a photo I took of one our wildlife visitors where we live
All in all was
great session today and of course I covered my 'favourite' topic re: diabetics
not necessarily having the classic warning signs of symptoms leading up to
and/or when having a heart attack.
You wouldn’t think it, but diabetes and driving can be a dangerous mix. Diabetes can bring us surprises, but when it comes to these surprises while you’re driving, not being prepared can be costly.
Watch as these diabetics talk about their unexpected hypoglycemic episodes while on the road, causing them now to think twice about what they need in case of a diabetes emergency before they get behind the wheel. Listen as they off tips on driving safely with diabetes.
What a Cool Animation! Tells You Everything You Need to Know About The Basics of Diabetes
Just in case you needed to know, here are the basics about diabetes.
If you or a loved one has just received a diagnosis, this video is a great place to begin learning about what it all means. Terms like “insulin” and “blood-glucose” levels can be confusing if you don’t know their role in the body. Learn about the process of turning sugar into energy — which is often disrupted in people with diabetes — watch the video below!
In 2008, a year after my heart attack and bypass surgery, I was invited by our local cardiac rehab unit to share my recovery experience with others doing the rehab program. After my first presentation, I was asked to come back and give my talk on a regular basis and have been doing so ever since - at my time of posting this, it is December, 2014. In my talks, I cover issues I had to deal with including depression,anxiety and changing my lifestyle. In this video presentation which is a recording of one my talks coupled with photos taken over the years since my heart attack you will get an idea of some of the material I cover in each talk including: • assessing my lifestyle and making changes • dealing with stress, exercise and poor diet
• coping with depression and anxiety • the role of cardiac rehab in my recovery process - turning 'negatives' into 'positives' • finding a new hobby - in my case getting involved in helping my wife look after injured wildlife and adopting birds • rediscovering an old hobby, that of photography (some photos included in this video) • volunteering - becoming involved in spreading the awareness of CVD, Heart Attack and Diabetes in the community including creating bumper stickers and T shirts to help spread the message.
Talk given in May, 2012
Please feel free to share this video with others. It should be noted that topics can vary from talk to talk depending on circumstances and the time available to me and with this in mind I am listing links to two other talks to provide a better overview of the topics I cover. Cardiac Rehab Talk, Oct. 2010 - Recovering from a Heart Attack and Dealing with Depression: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZNX5oCdhO0&index=6&list=PLEBBB26999588AD14
The trial, known as “the repurposing of verapamil as a beta cell survival therapy in type 1 diabetes,” is scheduled to begin early next year and has come to fruition after more than a decade of research efforts in UAB’s Comprehensive Diabetes Center. Verapamil, a rather common blood pressure
medication, has recently reversed diabetes in mice. Thanks to a generous
grant from JDRF, University of Alabama-Birmingham researchers will soon begin
testing on humans with diabetes, in hopes that they can encounter similar
results.
One of the things that some of us may need after a life threatening episode is some sort of support group or a group of people who have been through a similar experience. A year or so after my heart attack I was asked be involved in creating a Heart Support group here where I live, which would be part of a national network of such groups. That was in September, 2008 and in December of that year the group was launched and I was elected Publicity/Information Officer.
Around the same time I found and joined a number of heart support groups on Facebook and became active in some contributing comments on my recovery process and trying to lend support to others going through the same recovery process that I had gone through a year earlier.
Having a background in teaching and wishing to share information, I also would post relevant items in these groups that I believed would help others understand what they had been through and what lifestyle changes they (as indeed I) made after my heart attack. And also, having dealt with depression, anxiety and panic attacks, I would talk about these - something which was not a common thing for males to do.
My greatest desire, however, in joining these groups was to spread the word that: DIABETICS MAY NOT NECESSARILY HAVE THE CLASSIC WARNING SIGNS WHEN HAVING A HEART ATTACK.
This desire to spread this message came about after I did an interview with one of our local TV stations in which my cardiologist confirmed this message - at an earlier date we had discussed this when I had raised the question.
Channel Nine interview - "29 Lives"
And it would be fair to say that the principle motivating factor for me becoming involved in creating a heart support group here where I live (and joining some Facebook groups) was to get this message out into the wider community and to also spread the word about cardiovascular disease awareness and the links between diabetes and heart disease.
In the second half of 2008, soon after the TV interview, I was invited by our cardiac rehab programme to give a talk about my recovery and rehab process which included what I did to deal with depression and lifestyle changes I made. I can vividly remember talking about not having any pain or discomfort at the time of the heart attack and seeing a number of people in the room nodding their heads in agreement. When I queried them about this they told me that they were also diabetics and had never heard of the link regarding diabetics not always having pain when having a heart attack.
The supposed one-off talk at our cardiac rehab programme became the first of many and to this day, I continue to give my talk every six weeks.
In early 2009, a month or so after the local heart support group I was involved in got off the ground, I withdrew from the group due to personal and health issues. I returned to the group around August of that year and resumed my position on the executive and made it clear that I believed that part of the direction of the group should be sharing our experiences and educating the community about CVD and heart attack warning signs. I was given a free hand to develop this.
By the end of 2010 it became clear that the primary aims of the group was to be social and to revolve around BBQ's, social outings, weekly walks and Tai Chi sessions and fund raising. It also became clear to me that reaching out to the community to spread awareness and education about CVD was not what the new leadership (nor much of the membership) was interested in and following a couple of disagreements, sadly, I walked away from the group.
I had put a lot of time into the group since it was was created and was very disappointed but felt I was knocking my head against a brick wall in trying to get the group as a whole to understand, realize that we, as survivors, had a lot to contribute to the community where we live. I tried to get the executive to see the relevance in members of our group 'getting close' to our Heart Foundation and suggested that we should look at seeing if we could provide some speakers to their volunteer speaker's programme. That proved to go down like a lead balloon!
In 2010 I fought hard to get a training program implemented where members of our group would be trained and qualify to volunteer at our local hospital to talk to people who have just had a heart event and/or maybe were awaiting surgery for a heart related issue. Again, sadly, I watched as the training course took place, and the program fell apart due to a lack of direction and commitment by the executive and those who had completed the course. To say the least I was totally disillusioned having put in over six months of effort to get the program off the ground in the first place.
After leaving the group I joined Heart Foundation of Australia and was trained up to become a volunteer speaker for the organization and and continue to be volunteer speaker today. Around the same time I also became a volunteer patient at Bond University and not long after became a volunteer patient for the Australian Institute of Ultrasound. I found pretty quickly, and easily, that there were plenty of places where I live where I could volunteer and share my experiences which is basically very much what I would have liked to have seen our local heart support group become involved in.
At the same time I became much more involved in support groups on Facebook and also decided to create items that I could use to promote CVD awareness. Here are some of these.
I found I was able to quite readily on Facebook and in Facebook groups do what I would have liked to see our local heart support group do - spread CVD and Diabetes Awareness. I was heartened many times when comments would be made in a group by others confirming that, like me, they had not had the classic symptoms and then on reflection after some prompting they would add that they also were diabetics. Not saying that this happens to all diabetics who have a heart attack, but there is no doubt it is a common enough and as I so fervently believe, this message needs to be spread as it is clear to me that many people are not aware of this.
Following are links to a number of support groups that may be of interest to people who have had a heart event and/or diabetes:
There are many more support groups on Facebook, the above are just some that maybe worth a visit if you or someone you know is looking for some encouragement as they deal with a heart issue or diabetes.
One of the things that I will be doing in this blog is sharing knowledge. Being a member of a number of support groups on Facebook and elsewhere means I am constantly seeing different topics being raised regarding cardiovascular disease, recovery after a heart attack and diabetes.
Intentionally, I will be 'pinching' some of these topics from time to time and posting them here with additional information which hopefully will be of use to others out there dealing with that issue. It is fair to say that most of these topics will be close to my heart - no pun intended - given that I have heart issues, have had a heart attack requiring stents and bypass surgery and am a Type 2 Diabetic.
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