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In his regular Call Sign column
(April), Complaints Officer Tom Whitbread explained how
he had felt breathless whilst taking his dog for its early
morning walk around Christmas time. He put it down to the
exceptionally cold morning, but when the problem continued, his
wife Anne forced him to see a doctor who immediately sent him to
Homerton Hospital where he underwent and failed a stress test.
He was then given an appointment for Barts where he underwent an
angiogram, involving dye being put into his veins and some
rather personal poking about! In his article, Tom gave the impression that his chief concern was who would shave his private parts for the procedure, but he confided to Call Sign that when they told him that he had two badly blocked arteries – one with |
TOM WHITBREAD UNDERGOES SUCCESSFUL HEART OP |
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| a 90%
blockage, the other almost 80% – and would need an Angioplasty
that would place two stents into the affected arteries, he was
quite concerned even though you wouldn’t have known it to talk
to him. A stent is a rigid tube inside a balloon – later retracted - that is inserted into a diseased or narrowed artery and which helps keep that canal open. Two months after writing the article, Tom returned to Barts for the operation. He admitted that he freaked out when prior to the op, the doctor explained the procedure and what could go wrong. "Just do it," said Tom, "I don’t want to know what can go |
wrong!" In reality, the operation is very common and rarely has problems, but doctors now have a duty to inform their patients of possible side effects regardless of how remote the probability. Tom was given a local anaesthetic and spoke to the surgeon throughout the procedure. Both stents were inserted with no problems, he spent 15 minutes in the recovery room, went back to the ward and was then released the next day. The following week, he was back at his Brunswick House desk feeling great. Tom asked Call Sign to tell any DaC member facing the possibility of an Angioplasty not to worry. "It’s a doddle," he said, "and the end result is amazing!" |
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