The traumatic events of the week had taken their toll on me both physically and mentally. I had tried to obtain an appointment at the doctors surgery to get the increasingly frequent chest pains checked out but there were no spare slots that day. The doctor had warned me that if the pains didn’t go away then I should call an ambulance. The pains would go eventually but they also came back with very little exertion. I made the decision to call a taxi and pop down to the Queen Elizabeth A&E department, I had just flown across the globe I was dammed if I was going in an ambulance.
Armed with a thick book in preparation for a long wait the taxi driver dropped me off at the hospital. By the time I had walked up the hill from the car park to the A&E department I was in pain again but this time with each step I felt safer. If I was to collapse now they would fix me. After explaining my situation to the receptionist, rather than sitting down to a few chapters of my book I was sent straight down the corridor to the emergency room. Without pause I went from a ECG, blood pressure then to a booth where they wired me to a monitor and a sample of blood was taken. They checked my blood pressure regularly and every now and again a doctor would come and ask me questions. My heart was beating irregular at that time whether it was the arterial problem or just anxiety I didn’t know. After a short while a porter wheeled me down the corridor to the x-ray department where they took a chest x-ray.
After several hours back in my booth with regular checks I started to feel more relaxed and with it came a growing sense of unease. I felt no pain now but I also felt like I was wasting the doctors time being here. The doctor came around just after lunch time and we had a short chat, he explained he thought the increase in pain was probably bought on by the stress of the weeks events and I could go home. All through the mornings activities I was assured it was better to be safe than sorry and I had taken the right course of action to be there. There is no doubt that our NHS is stretched to the limit but I doubt there is more dedicated doctors or nurses anywhere in the world…
Phil's Quadruple Bypass 