INTO HOSPITAL, OUTER HEBRIDES

You can see the doctor at 4pm, Mr Sims,” said the receptionist.

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TALKING POINT

Following a health scare, monthly columnist Motorhome Matt Sims really does get to the ‘heart’ of the matter, as he goes in search of the restorative powers of travel…

During the past few months, I’d been experiencing some chest aches and occasional dizzy spells. I’d also been suffering what had been nicknamed a 100-day cough, and some discomfort in my shoulder.

When I saw my GP, he said, “You’re going to cardiology now via A&E. Do you have someone who can take you? If not, I’ll call an ambulance.”

NIL BY MOUTH

Jude took me to A&E. There, I saw several nurses and doctors, and a consultant who suggested my asthma was the cause of my chest discomfort.

The same consultant suggested I simply needed to drink more water. I was later approved for an echocardiogram and an angiogram.

Believing that all I would need to do was drink more water, I signed up for trial stents, which would dissolve once fitted, thinking I would not likely need these. I was told the angiogram was a simple 40-minute procedure.

The surgeon began the angiogram, entering an artery through my wrist, from where they travel up your arm via your shoulder and into your heart. It’s quite a bizarre procedure. “It’s not good in here, Matt,” he said, “I’ll fix it for you now. You’re lucky to have made it here today.”

I was diagnosed with unstable angina and had apparently come close to a fatal heart attack.