Francis Dunn remembers clearly the day he had his first heart attack.
It was a Thursday in 1986 and he was 42. “I went to work in the morning. Wasn’t feeling that well and I thought ‘I’m just tired’, but I started getting these sharp intense chest pains, so when the foreman came into work I told him ‘I’ve got these chest pains, I'd better call an ambulance and went to the hospital.”
Sure enough Francis did have a heart attack.
“Three months later I had a double by-pass," he says, admitting it was a very scary and worrying time for him.
“Especially when you realise it changes your life. You have to re-arrange everything to try and make sure you can cope.”
For up to four hours the surgeon performed the operation to find the blocked vein that caused the heart attack.
It was a major procedure, which required the surgeon to open Francis’s chest to replace the vein with a vein from his groin.
For the first 10 days, Francis stayed in hospital: “All I could do for the first two days was walk around the ward with a nurse to gradually build my strength. It’s amazing how much energy it took…when they open your chest up it takes the toll on your body. It’s a shock to the body.”
Francis also had stitches, measuring eight inches, starting from the top of his sternum that needed to heal.
“I had to give up my day job cleaning and stop playing the guitar for patrons at the Settler’s Motor Hotel for a month. It made a big difference to my earnings. But I had to plug through it. I had a mortgage and two boys to bring up.”
A few years later, when Francis started to have angina pains again, the doctors discovered this time he had five blocked veins. He urgently had to have a triple bypass.
And his quality of life changed further. “I have to be very careful, such as bending down; sometimes I lose control and feel like I’m toppling over. So I’ve given up playing lawn bowls and gardening because of it.”
Francis decided to move from Whangarei to Northcote to be close to North Shore Hospital, which he says is a real benefit, especially when last year he had to stay half a dozen times; this year once.
“If you have a heart problem, after a while you get to know when the pain is serious. It feels like someone has jumped on your chest, the pressure is just incredible and there is a throbbing pain on the side of your neck. Sometimes it goes down my right arm, that’s when I get a bit more concerned and ring the hospital.”
It’s scary and worrying for Francis. “Because I live alone, I have to make sure I explain as well as I can to the person on the line that it feels serious. It’s going to need attention.”
At the moment, Francis says he’s surviving on medication. After doctors this year discovered he has five blockages, they decided it would be too risky to Francis’s health to open his chest the third time. “I have to be very careful.”
He says currently different options are being explored.
"The care has been incredible. The doctors and nurses, they are always available when you need something explained to you. They are well-trained and they know what they are talking about.”
At Well Foundation our mission is straightforward: to improve the lives of our patients through advancing healthcare…with your help your local hospital can be at the forefront of care and treatment for everyone now and for future generations.
Past and current projects of your Well Foundation include:
New Zealand’s first surgical robot, assisting local doctors to deliver operations with pinpoint accuracy, helping patients recover more quickly.
A hospital safety video aimed at improving the welfare of inpatients.
A new cardiology manikin to train doctors in managing cardiac arrests.
New state-of-the-art incubators for the most fragile premature babies.
A major extension to our Special Care Baby Unit to cope with population increase and medical advances to save our most fragile new-borns
Please consider showing your gratitude today by MAKING A GIFT to the Well Foundation by visiting, www.wellfoundation.org.nz or call us on 09 447 0138.
Until next time, go well.
