The Polarbear (Nigel)

Update. Nigel has had a stent fitted and hopefully home very soon.

Regards,

Lindsay

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Thanks for the update Lindsay…still takes time to recover…but good news👍

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Those stents - one of science’s greatest inventions!!

Speedy recovery PB time to relax to some great tunes on your excellent Naim setup.

Take it easy.

All the best for your recovery. I had a heart attack 5 years ago, only a minor one but was amazed how much it took out of me and how long it took to recover. The best advice I got from a couple of sources was take it very slow and steady coming back to normal life again. Play the long game and don’t rush it, if you start to feel tired and not so good then stop and rest and don’t try and push through it which will likely be your usual approach.

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So great to hear the stenting went well. They are a modern medical marvel. As a GP I have many patients who are doing well for decades after the procedure. All the best.

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I had 3 stents put in 10 years ago when living in Hong Kong - literally felt like I could do cartwheels coming out of surgery. All put in through a tiny hole in my wrist. Hong Kong newspaper did an article on me to show off the miracles of Hong Kong medicine. I use to have random people come up to me on the street and say I read about you … lose weight… Nigel good luck on what should be a speedy recovery.

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Nigel you have inspired me to get off my arse and get moving again. I have started accepting ice hockey referee assignments again (will go with the slower leagues) and I just used some exercise equipment in my garage - the pulse readings were not encouraging, so I have a lot of work to do. I am also going to return to my gym, albeit at the off-hours when it is sparsely populated. COVID might get me, and it might kill me, but the road I am on as a result of it is a direct route to certain trouble/death, and I must make amends promptly. A year of sitting 10-12 hours a day has taken its toll in lost conditioning and about 10 kg of gained weight.

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Best wishes & get well soon mate

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If it’s any help life does normalise again. I was (and still am) a pretty active person. Windsurfed regularly all year round since 1986, out on the mountain bike if it wasn’t windy and doing lots of DIY around the house. In all this time I’d never been to hospital. Then, about three years ago I, got a bad viral infection and came out of hospital with 6 stents inserted. It took me the best part of a year to fully recover but I did and I’m back out windsurfing again and have been for the last two years. I collected my free bus pass this year and the government now send me money, so it goes to prove that normality does come back eventually! I wish you a speedy and full recovery.

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Thank you Sir. Bear I really need to start exercising again. Your travails have motivated me to get off my ass! Get well ❤️‍🩹

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Thats great news Mark and well done for getting off your backside, I have now been checked and double checked and the good news is there is no damage to my heart and after a week, I am free to go and get on with my life. I was expecting a long list of do’s and don’t and when I ask questions about changes the consultant said I can just get on and enjoy life. I consider myself very lucky albeit a bit disappointed in allowing myself to be in this position. I am determined not to do that again and if I have helped people make the same choice then thats great news.

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Glad to hear the good report, Nigel. I know others have taken your experience to heart (no pun intended) and hopefully, we will all stick with the actions needed.

People often like to argue (especially in this country) about being provided “healthcare”. Personally, I think that is an abuse of the term - what they are talking about is “medical care”, because “healthcare” is not something that someone else can provide for you, it is something we must provide for ourselves in the form of exercise, proper eating, adequate sleep, stress coping mechanisms, etc. That is healthcare - another person like a doctor can provide sick care, and can even give you advice regarding your healthcare, but the latter is our responsibility to ourselves and our loved ones…nobody else can give it to us.

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My weight is stable but muscle bulk has depleted, replaced by fat. Small things add up, working at home I perhaps do 3000-4000 fewer steps than I would have each day commuting, parking and walking to my office 1/2 mile away and back.

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AC, you point out another factor that I have also experienced - in addition to my body weight increasing, I have clearly lost muscle mass. Just as a measure of muscle mass and strength, a year ago I could bench press 100 kg for multiple repetitions (5-8 depending on how I felt that day, day of the week, phase of the moon - lol). Now I doubt I could do it once…and even trying would likely be injurious.

So I not only have more weight, but less quality body composition. And it won’t be as easy to come back as it would have been 20 years ago…hell, even 10 for that matter. And good heavens, I look like crap…so fat.

I think so many of us just need to start with small steps and it builds.

My main pre covid exercise was tennis 4-5 times a week - beginner to intermeidate stage group/drill classes, nothing fancy just fun and interaction with others of fairly similar ability, and a few coaching sessions which taught me how to move around the court more efficiently.

Although I used to use the gym in fits and starts, the only ‘machines’ I ever really enjoyed were Life Fitness cross-trainers until they got better models with different ‘strides’ that no longer worked for me.

It has to be fun and it has to be practical for me these days.

I have a few kettle bells at home but don’t really like them.

Just got another steel mace - they seem very ergonomic as basic weights to isolate muscle groups even if you don’t do the holistic swinging around.

Metallica is ALWAYS the music of choice! Start with “Kill 'em All” and work thru the back catalogue all the way up to “Hardwired”

Get well soon, lad :metal:t5:

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I’d probably start with this, not for the outcome, it just resonates with what life should be about:

When I was a practicing chiropractor, I of course encouraged people to exercise/be active. Many would ask “Well, what should I do?” My answer was always, “What do you like?” Because if there isn’t at least some level of enjoyment in the activity, it will never stick.

Good luck with resuming tennis, and we will all be looking for you at Wimbledon next year! :slight_smile:

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Thanks for supplying the updates and great to hear that the outcome is a darn sight more positive than the original prognosis - speedy recovery!