NB 1: This is my second attempt at writing this post, the first waffled on for ages and didn’t get anywhere. So I bailed and restarted.

NB2:there is a more joyous festive post coming soon, but, as ever it’s sat in my drafts.

2 weeks ago I had a ridiculously busy week, super busy in work, busy out of work, busy with rehab but making good progress in all aspects plus the peak run to Christmas. Like I say: busy

Friday, I worked my usual day albeit stressful, walked to a pub near work, had a soft drink, left and went home.

2(ish) hours into being home and I felt my heart beating very fast, but it settled, soon after it repeated the process but this time the settling felt like someone putting the brakes on, my internal defib had stepped in to pace me.

Another short while later and I’d been laid on the floor with the dog when I felt lightheaded and dizzy. Rich forced me to bed physically pushing me up and towards the stairs. , I was asleep very quickly

I woke up at 4am feeling like a horse had kicked me in the chest.

It took me a couple of minutes to come round and piece the information together. “Ugh I think my defib has shocked me” I told Rich who was surprised it had as the pre warning alarm hadn’t sounded, it’s like an ambulance in my chest when it does and we’d both have heard it.

My brain kicked into gear suddenly awake and buzzing like a supercomputer:

• What do I do? Get help! From where? Local Device clinic will see the data, but it’s 4am and they don’t open Saturdays. Ok then try the general cardiology team, you know most of then. But still it’s 4am and they don’t work weekends either.
• Ok so what’s escalation? A&E but it’s a Saturday in December it’ll be heaving and you’re currently in bed in your pants
• Ambulance? See above and that feels wasteful.
• Ben you’re tired. Get some more sleep and then think on it.
• I woke up again at 6 after a jolt, unsure if my defib had fired again or if just done that sleepy jolt people do.
• After talking through options with Rich we decided a&e was the way forward.
• I got up, dressed and headed to a&E. The staff on the door less than impressed asking why hadn’t I contacted my established teams?
• I expected a patient with significant cardiac history explaining they had been shocked via internal defib would be treated rapidly and through escalation but nope.
• 5 hours in we’d seen a triage nurse who just looked stumped and told me what I knew: there was little to no cardiology service on a weekend.
• The longer we sat the more I realised no one was going to help, at best I’d be admitted to a medical ward and sit there until Monday when cardiology returned.
• With a busy afternoon and evening ahead and a severe hunger I called it to go home, via McDonald’s.

We had a quiet afternoon where I napped to catch up on what I’d missed overnight. Went out that night with close friends and had a brilliant evening and quiet Sunday plotting my moves for Monday.

Thankfully I didn’t need to do much. 9am Monday morning the device team knew from my data uploads what had happened and phoned me

“Ben this is a VT storm. It’s very serious. When we finish this call you must immediately call an ambulance and say it’s a VT storm, you have a defib and it has delivered shocks” uncharacteristicly , I did as told . I got dressed as the ambulance arrived.

A lovely paramedic team collected me and took me to hospital where we sat in the ambulance for a while, chatting with tea until there was space inside a&E . My a&e opinion at this point was not high.

I did after a while go in, to a majors space where I could be monitored. A cardiology consultant did arrive and talked me through needing to get my rhythm under control and safe, I could either stay there or in his opinion, go to the next door city with a cardiac centre; this would be the hospital where my stroke happened during cardiac surgery so I very bluntly explained I wasn’t going there and had 6 months ago been under a different cardiac centre about 30 miles away and could they be liased with, they did and my consultant there gave very clear instructions on my pathway but to stay there unless I deteriorated.

5 days of constant ecg monitoring which meant I barely moved off the bed A big access line in my arm to deliver a large infusion of a cardiac drug worked fast and we then moved to a tablet version before leaving at the end of the week.

It wasn’t the week I planned or wanted. I did receive lots of love and visitors. The care on the ward was outstanding and I left feeling as safe as I could, with a longer term plan.

Let’s hope 2025 starts better