Home for a month

It has been a great month at home and I am doing very well.
Yesterday I made one of my goals which was to walk to the bus stop at the end of our road and I made it got the bus and went for lunch with friends and the got the bus back and walked home.
The gym work is going well although yesterday after the walk I did not do as much as my heart rate went up quite high.

Before EECP I could not even attempted this and back when I could I would have suffered a lot of pain and discomfort the next day. I think the Microvascular Angina gave me a lot of delayed reaction angina and would like to know if anyone else has experienced this.
I had a few bad days last week but nothing like before and this week I have felt very well and have taken very little GTN spray. In fact this has been cut drastically and I am a lot more active.
My breathlessness has really improved as well.

The treatment has been nothing short of a miracle and the work I am doing seems to be keeping it going.

I also am starting a cardio rehab course on the 18th march because of my stent in October. This has had to be postponed twice. Once because when the nurse called to see me in November I was very breathless just walking to the door to let her in and then the next time I was in Bradford for EECP. I am looking forward to this and hear it is very good.

John

Videos of Treatment

Here are 2 videos of the EECP treatment. They are also up on youtube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWKtqs2Lh60 and part 2 at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6HkUhffG0k This one is the preparation before the treatment.

Back home

Arrived back home on Friday at 19:00 and I am so glad to be back. Everybody sees a big difference in me and although I do not weigh much less maybe a kilo or so they all notice my face a lot thinner. I must have been a bit puffed up with fluid I guess.

Dr Morley has told me that I need to keep up an exercise routine and yesterday Cathy and I went to look at some local gyms. Gyms seem to have a lot of stairs and I know they must have lifts but of course I was in gym mode and thought I could walk. I felt very tired when I got home and had some pain which was relieved with 2 double puffs of GTN. After 1/2 hour rest I was fine and went out to a charity film show feeling great. Anyway we found a great gym and I am starting on Tuesday with a personal trainer who is going to start me on gentle exercise and says I should come every day. He is going to look at all my meds and history and is going to work on my diet and therefore diabetes as well. I have to get a letter from my GP to say I can start. I am very exited about this as I know I need to keep on exercising and change my lifestyle to keep improving now I have been given this new lease of life.

I have to give my heart felt thanks to my good friend Mike Slavin whose Blog I should have mentioned a long time ago. You will find it at http://eecpeurope.blogspot.com/ This is a fantastic account of Mike's journey with EECP from July 2006 and it is how I learned all about the treatment. I contacted Mike when I was thinking of going to India for EECP and he has written a whole section of advice for anyone traveling for their treatment. Mike has left a great comment in the "last week of treatment" post.

The effects of the treatment goes on well after the sessions are finished and with proper exercise this should be extended.

John

Last week of treatment

Into the last week now and looking forward to getting home. I had a great weekend at home and coped with the journey fine and managed to walk quite a distance round a shopping centre on Saturday. The fact that I even wanted to attempt this was amazing.
I had some pain this morning but it was relieved with gtn spray. I was very tired and a bit breathless making my way to the Hospital but the great news is by lunch time I felt fine. Before EECP I would have felt bad for days and would have been back in bed very quickly. This was the first pain I have had in about a week and a 1/2 so I am not to worried.
Please feel free to comment on the blog.
John

19 hours completed

I have now had 19 hours out of 35 hours treatments and I am feeling very good this week. I can't wait to get home and find that I am feeling like doing more things each day. The trip to the hospital is a lot easier this week.
Hello to all the girls in Surestart. Thanks for all your good wishes. Hope you are enjoying having the Boss back. Lol.
Please check out the comments and think positive thoughts for Lynne who is waiting for news on funding for eecp.
My sister Kathleen and Brother in law Bill are meeting me at the hospital this morning after their trip from Lisburn. We are going for dinner with my stepson Richard and stepdaughter Jenny to the restaurant that Richard's girlfriend Ella works. It will be great to get out of the Hotel for an evening.
John

Second week

The second week has been hard.
I am now getting 2 hour long treatments. This is to cut down my stay in Bradford to 4 weeks.
Monday was a very hard day as I found the 2 hours very uncomfortable because of sore legs. The wonderful therapists here in Bradford Royal Infirmary Pat and Liz were so helpful and reaassuring that I have been able to complete the week. On the monday they turned down the pressure of the cuff s to 260 for the first 2 afternoon treatments and then increased me to 300 at the end of week. 240 is the min and 300 the max and all these pressures are an effective treatment.

I have had a bit more chest pain and breatlessness this week but have stayed positive and today I have had quite a long walk and up a bit of a hill slowly. No pain just a small amount of breathlessness. Also we have driven to my stepdaughter Jenny's in South Leeds for lunch and I have not had to have a rest this afternoon.

I met Dr Morley on Tuesday and he told me I would get used to the 2 hours a day. I have 1 from 11 to 12 then light lunch then 1 to 2 for second treatment.

I have to mention and thank my GP Dr Wesley Rainey who referred me to DR Morley in Bradford after I had read that Dr Morley did EECP on the national health.
My Cardiologist in the RVH Belfast Dr G Dalzell who gave his support for the treatment.

Cathy goes home tomorrow. She has to get back to work. I will miss her so much but now that I feel better today she feels more confident leaving me. My sister and brother in law are visiting on Wednesday and I will look forward to seeing them. I am hoping to get home next weekend and fly back on Sunday for my last week.
John

Great day

I have had a great day and have had quite a long walk for me including a steep hill without any breathlessness. The walk back to the hotel was into a cold strong wind and I had to take 2 puffs of nitrate spray but the pain went quickly The tiredness has gone and I did not need to rest this afternoon.
I no I should not expect too much to soon but I am feeling very positive and all the signs are good.
John

One week completed eecp at Bradford Royal Infirmary

I have had five 1 hour treatments now and all has gone very well. I have felt a bit more tired than usual but today I feel quite well.
I have not been feeling very well prior to treatment and on the first day I was very out of breath and had found the traveling pretty exhausting. I have been traveling to to the hospital by bus and have a slow walk through the bus station each day. Each day I have found it easier and have just had my first pain free day for weeks. My blood pressure today was 140/60 before and after treatment. This is a good improvement for me as it has been very high of late.

I will be trying to cope with 2 treatments a day starting Monday. 1 at my usual time of 10:45 then a light lunch and then 1 at 13:00. I think this will be ok and will shorten my visit to 4 weeks.
Cathy and I are very comfortable in our hotel and I am resting in the afternoon. It is very hilly in parts of Bradford and I hope I may be able to tackle one soon.