"Heart attack treatment"

One evening at approximately 6pm my wife called the ambulance as I was experiencing extreme discomfort and chest pain. Within 10 minutes I was being assessed and the officers who contacted a Paramedic team who took over the ECG and gave me pain relief.

I was taken straight to Box Hill Emergency and within minutes I was having an angiogram; this resulted in my heart receiving 2 stents . Although I was fully aware of what was happening (I was able to watch the procedure on the large screen) I felt no pain.

Treatment

Nurses

Staff attitude

Medication

Doctor

By 7-30pm. I was in a single bed room with my immediate family around me! The one difficulty I had  was keeping my right leg still for several hours until a tube was removed from my groin; this was quite hard to do.

On Saturday I was confined to bed whilst various tests were done but I was able to shower and take gentle walks on the Sunday. It was so nice to have various family members come to visit. I was seen by one of the Consultant cardiologists who explained the ongoing treatment and the necessity of rehabilitation in future weeks.

Monday was very important because an ultrasound of my heart would show how much damage had occurred and how long my stay in hospital would be. Fortunately this imagery indicated that I was lucky and that prompt treatment had prevented major problems. This meant I could go home the next day ; Tuesday morning.

The care I received from all the Doctors and Nurses was amazing and I can’t thank them enough. I enjoyed all the friendly and informative conversations with various nurses who attended me during my stay.

The ancillary staff were all obliging and efficient so the one unfortunate experience in my stay was the long wait in the transit lounge. Although I was being picked up by my daughter we had to wait about 2 hours for the pharmacist to give me the necessary medications.

I realise that every hospital is super busy so I don’t know if there can be a quicker discharge method.