Dad, not dad again

I was supposed to be seeing dad today but haven’t. He still has Norovirus symptoms and so they have him in a single room just now. We tried speaking by phone the other day but he is so deaf he couldn’t hear me.

I received a weird phone call last evening that went something like this:

Caller: “Hello, is that Peter Mansell.”
Me: “Speaking.”
Caller: “It’s Doctor Webb from the Princess Royal. I am a Cardiologist and am phoning you as I have just reviewed the results of your heart monitoring carried out recently … [see below] … and to alert you to the fact that you need a pacemaker urgently and we would like to admit you now to the PRU.”
Me: [shock, trying to think logistics] “Okay, when would you operate?”
Caller: “It probably won’t be until Monday or Tuesday a you need to have the procedure carried out at Kings because of your metallic heart valve.”
Me:“Okay, so I won’t come in now. Just let me know when you want me at Kings and I will attend.”
Caller: “Right. I understand.”
Me: “So what will happen? Should I expect to receive a call or letter telling me when and where to be admitted?”
Caller: “Yes. I will also write to your GP to alert him to what’s happening.”
Me: “Okay, thanks for letting me know.”
Caller: “No problem: bye.”

In this post I asked whether you know what test I was having done and provided this photo as the clue. Catherine got it right by suggesting a heart monitor.

It was a 24 hour ECG and showed my heart is beating at around 30bpm. I know something wasn’t right back in August when I had a big bleed – see here. I thought I was also in heart failure but wasn’t.

My symptoms are simple: I yawn all the time and have trouble catching my breath. Still, all the stuff I have read online about pacemakers suggests that they should solve the problem. Maybe then I can get my life back as I feel like I’m constantly in survival mode rather than living the life I want.

And, of course, my poor old dad is expecting me today but I will have to disappoint him. Instead I am going to crack on with another picture for the exhibition.

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