Monday 5 March 2012

Three years after Heart Surgery

Well, I recently passed my three-year anniversary of heart surgery. My health is good and my doctor says all is well. The puppies are dogs now. I still eat well and although I am less consistent, I still do a lot of walking. That is the good news.


The bad news is that I've struggled the last few years with a series of disasters. My heart problem was just one of the calamities that avalanched upon my family and me. One of the nastier surprises was that my employer of 23 years made me redundant as soon as legally possible after my heart problem was diagnosed. That left me too far from retirement to just pack it in but in the horrible situation of trying to find a job, with a health plan, at my age and state of mind. It also took in one fell swoop, most of my social circle leaving me isolated and stupefied by yet another blow.

The latest challenge is getting our financial house back in order after three years of catastrophe. Right now I am trying to get insurance on a mortgage and line of credit. It is excruciating to be poked and prodded while giving up all privacy and dignity to insure a mortgage so that in the event of my death, more than grief will not burden my family. I am still not sure if anyone will underwrite policy or not. Either way it is going to be humiliating and grotesquely expensive. I mentioned my struggle to find an insurer to my doctor on my last visit and he was perplexed. "But I fixed your heart!" was his comment.

So as I sit writing this post, I am happy to say my health is great. I believe I'll tick along for quite some time yet. The repercussions of the heart surgery are still rippling around me and causing more problems in many ways than the pain or surgery did.

I wish there was somewhere to get good solid advice on this unexpected consequence of having the bypass operation.

1 comment:

  1. Good for you. Always monitor what you eat and your emotions so that you can take good care of your heart.

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