Alistair's page

Participants: The anniversary of the operation which changed my life
on 7 February 2013
Participants: The anniversary of the operation which changed my life
on 7 February 2013
This is a very personal journey.
Just south of Birmingham lie the Clent hills. The three hills Romsley, Walton and Adams Hill are a network of woodlands and heathland which can be explored endlessly. It is the landscape that provided the backdrop to my childhood and is the place in the world I most call home.
In early 2012 I was diagnosed with a long standing heart condition, constrictive pericarditis. It's not a nice thing, hard to diagnose and horribly debilitating. Months of uncertainty passed while the diagnosis was established.
During that time I found the resources provided by the British Heart Foundation immensely useful, Their no nonesense publications provide advise on the reallities of living (and not living) with a life limitng heart condition were a source of strength and comfort to me during a very unsettling period.
As time progressed it became clear that I would need drastic surgery to have any chance of living a normal life, or indeed one of any significant duration. The odds of not surviving a pericardectomy are worse than russian roulette, but there was no viable alternative. I was by this time unable to walk more than a few yards without discomfort and spending 20+ hours a day lying down in order to manage the fluid build up in my lower limbs and it was getting worse, rapidly.
I had the operation on 10th April 2012 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. I spent the night before the op in a room at the end of the top floor, from where I could see the Clent hills. As night fell and I pondered what may well have been my last day I watched my childhood home disappear into the darkness and felt an odd sense of comfort in the memories invoked.
I'm an enourmously fortunate man. I spent an uncomforable week in intensive care following the operation, but once I was able to stand up I started walking and never wanted to stop. My life is transformed. I have a full and active life with my children and I'm thankful every day for the gift I've been given.
So to mark what I regard as my "first birthday" in my new life, on April 10th 2013 I will leave the QE at 9am and walk the few miles on my own to the four stones at the top of Adams hill. I would invite anyone to donate to a worthy cause in recognition of this small but symbolic feat.If you feel like meeting me at the end of the walk, I'd love you to.
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