About
At the start of the 2020 I began to rebuild after losing months of running due the perviously mentioned injury. For me my goal in 2020 was to get back running and trying to get back to my old speedy self but something hasn’t been right for a long time but I put it down to a number of things, over training, tiredness, getting older, stress of the issues we had with my daughters heart conditions for the last 2 years. However, earlier in January my urine was like something out of a horror movie, in that it was pure red. I posted it to social media, most people reckoned it was something runners sometimes get called Haematuria. I thought I had a water infection. I didn’t ignore it and showed my wife who got me into my doctors straight away. My doctor did a urine test but looked concerned, order some more tests and asked me to come back a couple of days later. So Wednesday arrived but she still didn’t have the results back and said I will phone you.
Later that day she called me back and said the tests showed some abnormal results. I had a PSA test which I at the time didn’t know, helps to detect prostate cancer. The test, which can be done at a GP surgery, measures the level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in your blood. PSA is a protein made only by the prostate gland. So next up I was referred for further tests at the Hallamshire hospital which including an ultra sound on my kidneys and bladder, a digital rectal exam (DRE), A cystoscopy and also a biopsy. The tests showed a few things, firstly my left kidney is in a strange location and there is a shadow on it, that requires further investigation. So I am now waiting a CT scan for that. My bladder tests came back normal, however the other tests revealed my biggest fear…..
I have Prostrate Cancer at 38! The doctor explained I had the early stages. While it was not good news it’s the best of a bad situation. The doctor did not want to do anything and has explained they are doing “Active surveillance” which is a way of monitoring slow-growing localised prostate cancer, rather than treating it straight away. The aim is to avoid or delay unnecessary treatment and its side effects. The worse thing is the country then shut down a month later as the world dealt with the global pandemic of COVID. This meant regular testing became less and less as they didn’t want to risk spreading the virus. I had irregular visits over the course of lockdown and I’m still here and nothing has changed, except having the bladder of a heavily pregant lady during the night!
I managed to use the first lockdown to get back to fitness with help from a new coach in Jo Wilkinson and even managed to get a couple of races in between the first and second lockdowns in 2020 running two 5K races and a 3000m track race until life decided as a family we had not suffered enough and threw us another massive curve ball for us to deal with……..
On bank holiday Monday August (31st) 2020 we as a family were wanting a nice family day out, the last bank holiday until Christmas. We decided to go visit Lincoln Castle. I love castles, we have been to quite a few. We began the day with a Costa breakfast, and I had woken up not feeling myself, but thought my morning coffee would wake me up and make me feel better.
We set off down the M1 and I still wasn’t feeling right, as we passed Meadowhall I felt this almighty pain in my chest and thought I must have pulled myself, I didn’t tell Sarah as I thought it would go off! We continued down the A1???? And I was being Sat Nav telling Sarah which way to go .Sarah noticed I had lost all my colour in my face and asked if I was OK? At this point the pain in my chest was really painful and I started to worry. Sarah pulled over and I got out to stretch to see if it was just a pulled muscle, the pain was still there and getting worse.
I got back into the car and Sarah told me to dial 111 for advice which I did as she turned the car around and headed for the Northern General Hospital. As I was on the phone the call handler told me they were sending an ambulance, and could we meet them halfway? Sarah saw a petrol station on our route and said we would head there to meet the ambulance.
The ambulance arrived and the paramedics placed me on an ECG, something wasn’t right with the reading, but it needed further investigation at hospital. They were taking me to Rotherham hospital. I couldn’t stand up and walk to the ambulance parked right behind the car, this pain was just too strong, so I was helped onto the stretcher and was put into the ambulance, the paramedic gave me asprin and we set off to the hospital. Plus in the ambulance they gave me a spay under my tongue
Due to COVID restrictions Sarah and Molly weren’t able to come with me, so they headed home, the awful thoughts that went through their heads were horrible, they didn’t know what was going to happen and if they would they see me again! At hospital I was hooked up to the heart monitor, they took bloods and kept me under close observation, my heart electrics were all over the place and they couldn’t understand why.
I was moved up onto a ward for further tests and monitoring, but I had nothing with me other than my phone. Sarah arrived later on in the afternoon with my things which she handed to a nurse at the desk who said “Just a minute I’ll get him for you” Sarah was shocked as she didn’t think she would see me and I felt exactly the same, the nurse said we could go into a side room for 5 minutes. I held Sarah so tight, I really needed her. I explained what had happened with the tests and everything then she had to go! And I headed back to the bed for further monitoring. A cardiologist came and explained that I had experienced a heart attack, caused by Cardiac Arrhythmia. My ECG showed a first-degree heart block which must have righted itself allowing the blood to continue to flow and they have also noticed I have an irregular heart beat which would need further investigation,.
Now, as many of you will be aware, running is what I love to do. It’s my daily escape, my release and my passion. I have faced many obstacles in my running with injuries and now this! But I asked the Cardiologist if I could continue to run and he said “Running is what’s saved your life! Your heart is very strong which is the reason why your heart attack didn’t kill you, you’re a very lucky man” so I got the green light to continue running, after a period of recovery.
On the 12th October 2020 I was asked to attend the Hallamshire Hospital to be fitted with a 72-hour heart monitor. I was told to continue with my daily routine, and I was still advised to run so they had a full picture of my heart’s activity on a daily basis. I returned the monitor on the 15th October.On the early hours of Monday 19th I woke myself up in such a panic as I felt like my heart had stopped and I was gasping for breath! I told Sarah when I got up and she said she was going to phone the Cardiologist for advice as I have still been experiencing chest pain and the sharp pains when at rest as she was worried and didn’t want to leave it any longer.
I received a follow up phone call from the cardiologist a few minutes later and I explained to him how I was feeling and the pain I had been experiencing. He confirmed he had received the ECG results from the 72-hour monitor which has shown my heart electrics are not working as they should as it looks like I have an extra heartbeat. He said he would arrange some further tests and would phone me back shortly. True to his word he rang me back and said I definitely needed further tests but would need to be admitted into hospital for these tests to be carried out. Fast forward to 6:30pm and I get a missed call on my phone and Sarah’s phone starts to ring (Unknown number) she answers it and it’s the hospital questioning where I am! Sarah said he’s sat here next to me and the nurse told her my bed was waiting for me on the Cardiology ward at the Norther General! We were obviously both confused as the phone call I had received earlier he never said I will arrange for you to come in today! I asked if it could be done as an outpatient and the nurse said she would ask the Cardiologist and get back to me.
8:30pm and I receive a phone call from a different Cardiologist who basically said I needed to be admitted into hospital for the tests to be carried out and then she said “This is a life or death situation”! To put it bluntly I shit myself as did Sarah & Molly, she made it very clear how serious the situation had become! I gathered my things and Sarah drove me to the hospital dropping me off right at the door again unable to come with me, so she and Molly headed home, once again thinking the worst!
I was quickly on the ward, in a bed and hooked up to the heart monitor. It was beeping and the nurse kept coming back saying your hearts all over the place! Yeah love I know; how would your heart be if someone just phone you and said its life of death! I was booked in for a CT scan the following day so for now all I could do was sit there with all sorts going through my head! They took three lots of blood which was sent off for testing and I played the waiting game.
After I think I saw every cardiologist the hospital has, all giving me their take on what they thinks wrong with my heart, one senior cardiologist overruled the others and said I didn’t need the CT scan as that was to check for angina and I didn’t have that! He said I needed an MRI which would show them in great detail what’s going on with my heart but once again, due to the situation it’s a 6-8 week wait! Then I was told I could either stay in hospital for that length of time or go home and return as an outpatient. You know which option I chose. I am a firm believer in if I don’t need to be there I won’t. Hate hospitals at best of time.
He did want me to trial beta blockers, but we unfortunately witnessed what they did to Molly and I also didn’t want the tablets to mask the pain I am experiencing. So I had to sign a waiver to say I refused medication.
I received a further phone call on the 21st the Cardiologist said he had received my blood test results and there is a slight deficiency and has advised me to start taking Folic Acid to boost the levels. They are also testing for Pericarditis which is inflammation of the heart lining. They know I have a couple of faulty valves which is opening too fast and emptying my heart of blood and another isn’t opening fast enough to allow blood to come back in and this is causing the ectopic heart beats and palpitations. Again they wanted to operate but because of the pandemic decided to wait and see. Fast forward to predent day and they still waiting to operate. They feel due to my age and level of fitness the required operation to fix my heart valve isn’t an immediate danger to my health so it’s a case of waiting to see if anything deteriorates, aka I’m a ticking time bomb. However I wasn’t going to let it stop me. If I was going to go out it would be on my own terms.