I will certainly have left my mark on the rehab clinic by the time I leave. That is, I will have left sweat marks on the nice wooden floor in the gym! To be honest, it's a little embaracing to sweat so much. Everyone else is churning out 40 or 50 Watts while I do 170! I'm guessing that no Americans have ever had to stay here as there is no air conditioning of any type in the gym.....
Well, I had a meeting with the doctor just after lunch today. The results were a little depresing and I'm going to try and get a second opinion just as soon as I can find another cardiologist. Although my heart attack was small, apparently it was in a bad location (yeah, in my heart derrr!) and spanned both sides of the heart which really messes with the electrical impulses (or at least I think that's what he said). The off-shoot of this is that I should not exceed the pulse safety limit (150BPM) for at least three months. That means another three months without riding the bike on the road, although I am toying with the idea of getting some slick tyres for the mountain bike which should give me low enough gearing to get up some small hills without red-lining.
They will give me another test tomorrow to see if my safety limit can be raised a bit. Anyway, I'll be off work for a while yet as the doctor is going to sign me off for at least another couple of weeks after the clinic. Then I'll probably be 50% for a while while I "get used" to working again. The last thing the doctor said to me (and I know becasue he said it in english) was "You have to change yourself". I think he was refering to my competative streak - that or dress sense. Sometimes being a competative person can make your life difficult.... although I'm determined to get over this quicker than Joe Average! Guess I'll have to start thinking about making those life changes once I get out of here.
On the bright side, the weekend was really great. Fiona and I were invited to Lolo and Bea's for dinner on Saturday which was a welcome distraction from recent events. It was really nice to have something different to talk about.... and of course a little bit of alcohol (my first this year)! We got home way past my bed time which meant a very long lie-in on Sunday which was a beautiful sunny and unseasonably warm day. Sometimes the simple pleasures of tea and cake in the afternoon sunshine are the best. I tried driving the car too..... probably not the best idea given that the beta blockers modify adrenaline response and my concentration isn't all it should be. It's amazing how much I can make those snow tyres squeel on the corners ;-)) Note: Fiona not to pleased about this and won't let me drive her car :-(
So tomorrow is the last full day in the rehab clinic. It's funny how quick you get used to being tucked in at night by a nurse (get your mind out of the sewer)...... talking of which I better go!
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