Be Excellent To Each Other

Sounds pretty scary! Glad your on the mend now. Do as the doctors say and rest, no matter how frustrating. Buy yourself some lovely new pencils or something. xxx

I'm going to do EXACTLY what I'm told. My personal recovery program so far involves finishing FarCry 4 then Bloodbourne.

I'm ok getting my stamina back a little every day. Just keeps hitting me what's happened though.

Out this afternoon all being well

Same here, either that or dodgy cooking in the bothy. Learn the signs of a heart attack folks, I hadn't and it's not an exaggeration to say that my ignorance could have cost my best friend his life.

Reckon I might leave it a week or two before lending you Alien Isolation.

Group Hug!!!!

Hey Mark, don't feel bad in any way mate, I had no fucking idea what was going on. Also heard that being sat up and keeping calm takes pressure off the heart so at least we did that.

I'm going to get better, promise.

Stop smoking x

Bigger group hug!

Actually, you two just go hug it out alone. You seem comfortable with that.

Mark's advice is good, though. We should all be more keyed in to the signs of a heart attack. Some (painful left arm/jaw/neck, feeling of heartburn) I'd been aware of, but not the sickness, etc.

Quick action on those signs, and those of stroke, can make a massive difference.

Best wishes for your gentle return home and continued recovery, Daz xxxxxx

And Zardoz?

Me, too.

I shall read up and keep an eye out for stuff.

Relatedly, the FAST mnemonic for strokes was on 'Only Connect' recently. Surprised I hadn't heard of it, but worth remembering.

So for heart attacks it's SSPIAGTFTH

Grandad Codd has a watch with all those things. It's a speaking watch. Take that, Apple Tech!

The FAST mnemonic has been around for quite a while, Kern. I think you might be like us and not have any commercial TV channels, as I think there was a big campaign some time ago.

Been ages since I did a first aid refresher too.

I am so glad I get a medical every year.

Just remembered going to Drs about 'funny dos' last year, was put on heart / blood pressure monitor for 24 hrs but nothing came of it.

Dicks.

Remember when we would be hiking and you'd sometimes get those weird leg cramps? I wonder if those were related.

Yeah, been thinking of those too mate. Bet it's all related, at least I know now and I'll deal with it.

Coming home at 3!

In other news, thank fuck we took out critical illness cover.

Think my mortgage is paid.

Silver lining to every cloud!

How long do you think you'll be out of work for?

3 months at least! 1st month no driving, very little mobility but building up, then onto cardiac rehab thingy doing monitored exercise. Thing is in three months they'll be deciding on my bypass or more stents on the other side so it'll be the same all over again.

Was worried about work / money etc but now I've decided 'fuck it' health more important obviously. Insurance taking the worry away.

Proper mixture of emotions at the moment.

Good chance after all this I'll be healthier than I've ever been.

*fingers crossed*

Nice silver lining, man. And that's the spirit.

Health is far, far more important. Remember your family will always be there, no matter what happens with work and money. And yes, let the insurance take some of that stress away. Your head will swim from one thing to the next as problems and solutions all present themselves, but you'll come out of it all the more loved and cherished.

Use the time to spend time with your family, forced quality time through illness perhaps brings that home. Forget all about work and remember every morning that your only task is to rest and move gently towards getting yourself better. That is your only commitment, and you are doing it for you, your fmily and loved ones, and so you have to make it your only priority.

Yeah, absolutely. My brain is reprogramming now.

'Protect the innocent' and 'Uphold the law' have moved down several places as a result.

But you're still going to serve the public trust, right? The public trust your T-shirts!

Glad to hear it. And just remember if there's anything, anything at all you need just ask and if it's not going to be too much bother then I'll definitely see what I can do.

Watch that Directive 4

Cut his milk.

I'm free! With a massive bag of meds.

Man, I'm going to get stung on prescriptions with these. Suppose I'll be cutting down on booze and pork pies though so it'll even out.

Yay! Hope the recovery goes well.

Get one of these. £29.10 for three months or £104 for the year.

https://apps.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/ppcwebsales/patient.do

look into it, you might qualify for free perscriptions, I do

Else get a pre payment NHS dodaa

I had a flash of a mental image of you wandering around Manchester, barefoot, in abackless hospital gown waving a carrier bag at passers by, shouting "Meds! Doodles! Demons". Sorry. I know it is serious and all but you should draw that.

Dangling some bacon on string in one hand and with a spoon up his arse.

Damn you.

I miss daft burning pee chats.

You guys make me sick.

WTF?! How do you do that?

Or it's another attack! Better eat all those meds right now, just to be safe!

I think its only cancer, diabetes or terminal. Long term illness isn't a general exemption (but the annual cert is a must)

Mrs Grim... can't get it for CF because when these things were classified none of them lived to be an adult.

Stupid rules.

That's terrible, do they ever review them to update the list?

Surely we need re-classification in that case?

They made recent changes that left some diabetic patients unaware that their 'free for life' certificates were no longer 'for life' and needed re-application leaving them vulnerable to be sued for dodging prescription charges. People were getting threatening letters in the post saying they hadn't conplied with recent changes to certification rules, which they hadn't been informed of. Someone in the NHS said that it was up to the patient to check if their 'lifelong exemption' still stood, or had actually been swapped out without their knowledge and no longer stood for a fig (ok, perhaps my paraphrasing wildly, but stood for the same thing).

Was on the BBC news page a few weeks ago.

Apparently not.

People have been trying for a while* **, though.

* something something Clarkson something
** I dislike the last sentance of that petition. It sounds a bit teenager-y

And a turd in a handbag