Dad suffered a heart attack yesterday

Any more UHNS workers want to come out of the woodwork?

Oh and OP, glad your Dad is better.
This last 12 months my Dad, 2 brother in laws, best mate and sister in law all ended up in the old Cardiology department in the West Building.
 
Thanks for all the lovely messages everybody. Just got back from the hospital and he's so much better today..when I arrived he was walking himself to the toilet..it was such a great sight to see!

doopydug - He's 58 and not overweight at all, but he really doesn't look after himself like he should..he has thick layers of butter on his bread with evening meals and hardly ever takes exercise. That's all going to change though, trust me on that one! :)
 
Just because people don't look "overweight", that doesn't mean they aren't unfit and carrying around lots of visceral fat.

My dad had risk factors, but being overweight wasn't one of them - and he had his heart attack at 51. I see plenty of very overweight individuals who lead much unhealthier lives not suffering from the same condition. I guess it all boils down to genetics as much as anything else - unfortunately it puts me massively at risk and all I can do is minimise the risk as best I can.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
Just because people don't look "overweight", that doesn't mean they aren't unfit and carrying around lots of visceral fat.
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Exactly.
In fact when I've visited family & friends and also go down cardiology to collect angiograms the one thing I notice that there aren't many fat people in the wards.
There are obviously a lot of unfit people though who don't eat properly.
 
Dimple said:
Stupid question.
All 4 of my family and my best mate who were in the Cardiology unit were not overweight.
One mate died last year and he was a marathon runner.
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How is it stupid? There is a known correlation between being overweight / drinking / smoking too much etc. Therre are exceptions to every rule but my question is not stupid.

I am overweight and worried about heart attacks - I am genuinely interested but, if you are going to criticise a valid question from someone with related concerns, just gonnae no dae that !
 
doopydug said:
How is it stupid? There is a known correlation between being overweight / drinking / smoking too much etc. Therre are exceptions to every rule but my question is not stupid.

I am overweight and worried about heart attacks - I am genuinely interested but, if you are going to criticise a valid question from someone with related concerns, just gonnae no dae that !
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You only mentioned overweight originally.
 
I think genetics also play their part. My grandfather died at an early age from heart problems. My dad died from a heart attack at 47. And I had mine at 35. My father was a smoker but I've never smoked. I'm sure they processes/diseases are quite complex. But cardiology in particular has come on in leaps and bounds. When I had my bypass it was open surgery and quite traumatic. Keyhole procedures are fast becoming the norm.
 
Dimple said:
You only mentioned overweight originally.
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Thats correct - what is your point? Every single one of them is a contributary factor?

Are you saying my qauestion is stupid because I only listed one of, what could be, dozens of factors? If not, could you answer my question as to why it was a stupid question? I am confused and trying to understand what moved you to say that?
 
doopydug said:
Thats correct - what is your point? Every single one of them is a contributary factor?

Are you saying my qauestion is stupid because I only listed one of, what could be, dozens of factors? If not, could you answer my question as to why it was a stupid question? I am confused and trying to understand what moved you to say that?
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I apologise.
Your original question looked (to me) as though you were blaming it on him being overweight but obviously you weren't.
It was a valid question from your own concerns.
 
DampDog said:
But cardiology in particular has come on in leaps and bounds.
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Too right.
We have a famous case at the UHNS that what happened in 2003 didn't happen in 2002 and so on.
Also when I was younger a heart attack was a really serious problem but now it's 'Put a stent in, discharge after 2 days'.

My brother in law has really upset me.
He was having problems so eventually went up to the old A&E dept at the Royal Infirmary. While standing outside he had a massive heart attack but as you know there's always about 4 paramedic teams outside and he had a defib there & then. They got him inside and he had to be defib'd again and he was sent down theatres for a stent.
Anyway, they found out he had been a secret smoker for 5 years when he said he had given up and he then promised to stop.
Last year I caught him smoking and I just tutted and shook my head when he said "I've been smoking for 37 years and they've just cleaned all my pipes out so that means I've got another 37 years to mess them up again".
 
Dimple said:
Last year I caught him smoking and I just tutted and shook my head when he said "I've been smoking for 37 years and they've just cleaned all my pipes out so that means I've got another 37 years to mess them up again".
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That sort of thing really infuriates me. I take the view that people have put time, effort and money into keeping me alive. The only way I can really repay that is to look after myself and keep it going as long as I can. Touch-wood I've done reasonably well since my bypass. Bizarrely it's 15 years to the day on the 24th, March since my Mi/Bypass. Generally I've been OK, a few scares along the way, but I've continued to work up until my most recent MI in Sept last year.

Unfortunately time has taken it's toll on my heart, I now have a section of dyskinetic heart muscle (dead muscle) and that bit of muscle just happens to be where a valve attaches to the wall of the heart so now have a leaky valve. I'm quite bradycardic around 40bpm resting, all of which has pushed my ejection fraction to just under 35% so the ole ticker works quite hard for it's money now. I'm also on a raft of medication now so I rattle when I walk. Not sure about getting back to work this time, I seem to get out of puff far easier following the latest MI, and become fatigued really easily now, and need a fairly good nap to recharge most afternoons. Think I could manage part-time, but full hours or anything physical is a bit beyond me now. Can't complain though, still here. (And here too much now while I'm off work!!)
 
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