A Member's Viewpoint

I had triple by-pass surgery in November 2003 and have been a visitor for Mended Hearts for over five years. About a year and a half ago I wrote an article for our Mended Hearts newsletter wherein I suggested that three big words are a key to recovery from heart surgery: A – Attitude, D – Diet and E – Exercise.

Over the years as a visitor I gained the sense that many patients feel that somehow their body has let them down or worse, they have somehow let their bodies down.

I came up with the idea to make patients feel better about their situation and themselves; the human body is very much like a car. Both are complex and rely on the various parts to function as a complete entity.

You would not buy a new car and expect it to last forever without some maintenance or even minor or major repair. If the car looks good, runs good but needs new brakes or tires you don’t just throw the car away. You do the necessary repair and continue to enjoy the car.

I recently mentioned my thoughts to a patient and suggested that heart surgery is a method of repair or maintenance and cannot be compared to a car hitting a tree at 80 miles per hour which of course would result in the complete destruction of the car and the persons riding in it.

Having had any kind of heart surgery you have not hit that tree at 80 miles per hour, you just replaced the brakes or tires or did a tune up, but you are still in one piece and can continue to enjoy life.

Editor’s note: contributions from members are always welcome. If you think you might have a story to tell, you can send it by fax or email, or mail it to the treasurer’s address at the bottom of the membership application form (PDF) (since at present the treasurer and the newsletter editor are the same person and therefore live at the same address). If you don’t like to write, contact me and we can get together so you can tell me the story and I can write it.