It started with a text message from the co-op. Glanbia was offering free health checks at designated branches in conjunction with the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) in June 2016. Did Colm Doran from Monamolin, Gorey, Co Wexford, want to make an appointment?

Colm’s wife, Anne, persuaded him to say yes. Both of them would go, she said, and they did. While Anne’s results were acceptable, Colm’s were a different story.

In spite of having had a full medical check-up two years earlier following his brother Joe’s bypass surgery, and in spite of having his blood pressure checked on the odd occasion he had to see a doctor, Colm’s blood pressure had crept up to a dangerous level. This was also in spite of the fact that he had never smoked and had been a pioneer all his life.

Following the test, he was advised by the IHF nurse to see his GP on the way home from the co-op and he did.

“I had the 24-hour monitor on as soon as it was available after that,” says Colm. “And I was put on medication as the readings were high. The only time it was pretty good was when I was asleep.”

FAMILY HISTORY OF HEART DISEASE

Through all this, the possibility of a heart attack was always at the back of Colm’s mind given that there was a history of heart disease on both sides of his family. His father and his brother Sean had died in their early 60s of heart attacks, and also an uncle on his mother’s side.

“My father died before half-time in a county final in 1970,” he says. “Four of us Doran brothers, Billy, Joe, Tony and myself, were playing that day. I thought the atmosphere in the dressing room was very solemn at half-time, but we didn’t know until the game was over. He was only 62. My mother died 13 months later of a stroke.”

THOUGHT HE’D WALK THE STRESS TEST

A stress test was sought for Colm a few weeks later when his blood pressure had settled down following stabilising medication.

“I was looking forward to the test,” he says.

“I considered myself fairly fit with the sporting history I have and walking a lot on the farm every day. I thought I’d have no problem doing it, but the nurses couldn’t let it go the distance because my blood pressure went up again.”

His medication was changed after that and an angiogram planned as an underlying problem was suspected.

“I had been working away,” Colm says. “I didn’t have headaches or symptoms of high blood pressure or anything like that. It just proves that something can be going on there that you don’t know about.”

The angiogram took place on 10 August. It is an x-ray test that uses special dye and camera to photograph the blood flow in an artery or vein. Two stents were shown to be needed for Colm to allow blood to flow more easily.

“I was told I might feel some discomfort during the procedure but I didn’t,” he says. “I talked away during the whole thing. The only thing I asked the doctor was: ‘How will I be after this?’ He said that I’d have to take it easy for a few days and that I’d probably be able to do more than I was doing ‘or at least you’ll be able to do it safely’, he said. That was reassuring.”

That was a year ago and Colm is doing well since and glad to encourage other farmers to have a health check.

“The message is that I never thought anything was wrong with me. I didn’t have any symptoms and I considered myself fit. I’d say avail of such tests or make an appointment with your GP to have a check-up if it’s a while since you’ve had one. I’d like to thank Glanbia and the Irish Heart Foundation for bringing in an initiative like this. The bottom line is that heart problems can happen to anyone.”

Colm Doran, whose idol was Billy Rackard, played with the Wexford county hurling team for 12 years and competitive hurling with Buffer’s Alley until the age of 40, when he unfortunately developed disc problems and required back surgery.

20 MINUTES THAT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE

Anne, Colm’s wife, admits that it was a bit of a shock when they got the news about his blood pressure being high.

“Being reminded that if he didn’t look after himself he might not see his grandchildren grow up… That might have frightened him a little bit and helped him take the advice on board.”

Their children, Willie, Frances and Colm Og, helped out on the dairy and beef farm near Monamolin in north Wexford while Colm recovered from the stent insertion.

But has he felt much better since the procedure?

“I do feel that bit sharper,” he says, “a bit better in myself.”

Anne reiterates the health check message: “Take the time to do it because no one really knows what’s going on internally and they may not have any symptoms. It could save a lot of problems in the future. Colm was told that if he hadn’t had the stents, he could have had a heart attack or stroke – or worse… As it was, he only needed a couple of stents – a straightforward procedure.”

They would both advise others to have check-ups more frequently as you get older. Colm is currently taking four tablets a day, including warfarin, but hopes his medication will be reduced in the future.

“Luckily the high blood pressure was discovered in time,” they both say. “A check-up is 20 minutes that could save your life.” CL

Small steps to

a healthier you

Small steps or lifestyle changes may help to reduce your blood pressure, according to the Irish Heart Foundation, but medication may also be needed.

Blood pressure varies with age and depends of how active you are before it is measured.

If you are nervous or anxious, the measurement can be higher than usual.

Here are some tips on how to improve your blood pressure:

  • • Know your blood pressure level. You can get it checked in a pharmacy also.
  • • Aim for a healthy weight. Even losing 10% of excess weight can help lower your blood pressure.
  • • Eat less salt and processed food and more fruit and veg. Use alternative flavourings like black pepper, spices or lemon juice instead of salt.
  • • Drink less alcohol.
  • • Be more active.
  • • Avoid other risk factors like smoking and having high cholesterol. Diabetes type two can also be associated with high blood pressure.
  • >> Thomas Power

    Demand for

    24/7 cardiac

    care at hospital

    The South East Patient Advocacy Group has reiterated its calls for the immediate implementation of 24/7 cardiac care at University Hospital Waterford (UHW) in support of the call by the Power family that no more lives be lost needlessly.

    Thomas Power lost his life two months ago because they feel he was denied cardiac care because the cath lab at UHW is closed in the evenings and at the weekends.

    The Power family are also calling for an immediate independent public inquest into the death of their beloved Thomas.

    Thomas Power passed away in an ambulance en route to Cork University Hospital after he was denied access to emergency cardiology services at University Hospital Waterford because it was a Sunday and the cath lab was closed.

    The Power family are extremely dissatisfied with many of the answers to their questions and other aspects of how Thomas was treated, both at UHW and en route to Cork.

    “There are many unanswered questions and the family feel it is in their own and the public’s interest that an independent public inquest takes place to get to the bottom of what occurred on the 18 June last,” said Hilary O’Neill of the South East Patient Advocacy Group.

    “SEPAG fully supports the family in this regard. We have said it before and we will say it again, we don’t want any more reviews or political promises, we want 24/7 implemented immediately so no other person will die needlessly. Nobody in this State should be denied equity of access and the people of the southeast are being denied this every single day. We cannot tolerate any more preventable loss of life,” added Hilary.

    “Our Thomas didn’t stand a chance. No other family should have to go through what we have been put through,” said Catherine Power, sister of Thomas Power. “Bernie has lost her husband, my parents have lost their only son, Joan and I have lost our only brother and Thomas and Bernie’s baby will never know its daddy. We are all devastated. Thomas died without any of us with him and we want to know exactly why. We are fairly certain he would still be with us if he had not been denied access to the cath lab at University Hospital Waterford on that Sunday morning. On Monday 17 July we asked the hospital manager to sign a petition supporting our calls for 24/7 at UHW and he refused. We were stunned by this response.”

    SEPAG are once again calling on the Government to immediately implement 24/7 care at University Hospital Waterford and expedite the carrying out of an independent public inquest into Thomas Power’s untimely death.”