BY-PASS PATIENT: Tom Kenny's brush with the health service has left him feeling a new man in more ways than one
Last August a pain woke me in the middle of the night - a pain which suggested heartburn or indigestion. I took medicine, but it made no difference. The pain persisted and began to creep into my left arm. As you do not get indigestion in your left arm - I knew something else was wrong.
My wife drove me to the University College Hospital in Galway and I was quickly transferred to the cardiac unit. I was having a heart attack.
A highly efficient team of nurses went to work on stabilising me and within a few hours they carried out an angiogram. This showed my arteries had narrowed, thus restricting the blood flow to my heart. The cardiologist told me I needed a triple-bypass.
Strangely, it was almost a relief to know what was wrong with me. I did not feel particularly nervous or suffer panic attacks. The operation simply had to be done. I was in safe hands and had complete trust in the medical team - there was no point in worrying.
For the next week the nurses and staff of the cardiac unit prepared me mentally and physically for surgery. Their main advice was "take all the painkillers you are offered and do what you are told". They also counselled my wife and family: "Remember what is a major experience for the patient is routine to the medical staff."
They were skilled communicators. Every test they did was explained in plain English. I was in awe of their professionalism, their attention to detail, their dedication and the level of individual care they gave to each patient.
Everything happened as they said it would. I was taken to the Mater where I was made comfortable and ready.
The operation itself is a major one, a miraculous process. I had no pain. In fact, when I woke up I initially thought they had not done the operation. It was as if they had given me a new engine. It did not feel like a new engine at first, but you have the benefit of a wonderful back-up team to make sure that it starts properly.
Within a couple of days they get you out of bed to take those first tentative steps. Their constant encouragement helps you exercise a little more every day. Daily visits from the surgeon and meetings with physiotherapists, dieticians and occupational therapists provided lots of good advice and preparation for going home.
"Be prepared for low days... depression can affect people because of slow progress; you may have nightmares; listen to your body and rest when it tells you; a positive attitude is a great help; do your exercises and gradually increase activity and walk, walk, walk."
Within weeks of coming home I was invited to participate in a cardiac rehabilitation course in the University College Hospital - a kind of after-sales service. There were six in our group and over a period of eight weeks, we were carefully monitored as we worked out in the gym.
We attended talks and group discussions on stress management, healthy eating, the emotional aspects of heart disease, etc. These were interesting and thorough and included a tour of a supermarket with a dietician who taught us how to read labels and understand what is healthy eating and what is not. Wives and partners were encouraged to attend these sessions.
The idea is to make you fit enough and educated enough about your health to keep away from hospital for as long as possible. They do not want to see you in there again. You are left under no illusion that being happy is part of being healthy and that your health is very much your own business. You are on your own from now on.
This course is so good it seems almost a pity to confine it to cardiac patients - it could usefully apply to anyone over 50.
Much of the process I have described is funded by CROÍ, the western heart foundation. It is doing an outstanding job in the area of fundraising and of creating new levels of awareness on how to prevent heart disease. It deserves all the support we can give them.
For me there were some unexpected benefits - such as a major loss of weight and membership of the Union of the Bypassed, a sort of unofficial club that is a lot less exclusive than people think.
The greatest bonus, however, was to have met the staff of both the cardiac and rehabilitation units in University College Hospital, Galway and of St Joseph's Ward in the Mater Private hospital in Dublin.
Their training and humanity guarantees that what is routine for them is special for the patient.
It was an enriching experience, a privilege meeting them, even in the circumstances. I can only humbly thank them with all of my heart, and a bit of my leg.
Like I said, I am a very lucky man.